Blind Date: The Ring
by Mischievous Whisper
Summary: It's around St Valentine's day on Mobious. Amy is throwing a party as usual, and Knuckles is invited, probably to get harassed by the pink hedgehog to get himself a girl... this year will go different, as he'll meet a different kind of girl, someone who has lots in common with him. How will things go between them?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello!**

 **This is really weird, I don't usually write in this language and publish something. Now let's get to what matters, the story, before you start to read, I want to get a couple of things out of the way.**

 **1) THIS IS NOT MY STORY. I can't repeat this enough, some people might get angry for taking credit for something that is NOT MINE and I am not. I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS since it doesn't belong to me. I have sent the author a couple of messages asking her if I could do this... my last message was on 2015 and I never recieved any kind of responce.**

 **2) This is a story published around 2010/2, the author's name is Yelta (Sarah Ann), I recommend going there and show her support, or do it here, it's the same for me. I am just here to show you the story, wich was published in DeviantArt and barely got any views... depsite being, in my opinion, one of the best stories i've seen around.**

 **3) THIS IS NOT FINISHED  as I said, this story is not mine, AND it's not finished. It has currently 14 chapters, Yelta finished writing and using her page around 2012, leaving this fanfic unfinished.**

 **4)** **Why am I publishing this if it's not mine and it's not finished? Simple: This story never got a lot of reviews, just a couple in chap 1, and one mine in chap 14. I think the author is not coming back, and I'd like to share this with all of you, fanfiction, since I want you to read it by yurself...**

 **5) Knuckles x Blaze ahead: As you might have noticed by the summary, this is a Knuxaze story, so if you don't like that pairing, or you don't like reading about new pairings... I suggest you don't do it, it's a nice story, and I don't want to get hate comments for something as stupid as shipping...**

 **Without anything else to add: The story.**

* * *

The Blind Date: The Ring  
Chapter 1 

* * *

It was Valentines Day, a holiday Knuckles would never understand. To him it seemed like Amy chased Sonic more on that day, Rouge and Shadow make-out every five seconds, and Cream goes overboard throwing a huge party. What is the point of all of that craziness? He had no idea. All he knew was he had to come and listen to Amy and Rouge set him up with different girls, while Sonic, Shadow, and Silver laughed at him. Who ever invented this holiday deserves a spiked fist to the face, and that is that.

He cell phone rang as he walked down the streets of the city. Of course, it was Amy. He proceeded to answer it.

"What now, Amy?" He said brashly.

"Hello, Knuckles, you don't need to be rude. Do Cream and I have to give you a lesson on manners before the party, again?"

"Get to the point, Amy."

"That's a yes. I was just calling to remind you of your shopping list of things for the party!"

"Oh could I forget?" Sarcasm laid heavily over his words.

"Okay, you need to pick up the order of roses from the florist on Emerald Street and the chocolates from the candy store on 2nd avenue. Remember we changed the order to fifteen pounds of sponge candy, not nine. The candles we ordered are at the store on the corner of Metro and 66th street. Those are under my name and not Cream's. This needs to all get done before eleven. Meet me then in front of that cute store, L'anana a la Mode by 11:15. Got it?"

"Yes, for the seventh time, yes!"

"Good. I am so excited you are going to love this girl I am going to introduce you to!"

"I can't wait." The echidna, yet again, expressed sarcasm.

"Bye Knuckles!" With that Amy hung up. 

* * *

Knuckles ran all the errands Amy sent him on, wondering she was making him do them. He had picked up red, pink, and white roses. The florist was a scattered-brained moron who screwed up his order five times. It was preorderd! How does that even happen? Amy had not told him that he was picking up fifty pounds of various candies, and that was a huge nuisance trying to carry. The stupid candles went smoothly, once he founded out they weren't under Amy's name but Sonic's (she is so obsessed). This worked better when it was just Cream planning it, no Amy. Despite the irritation he now possessed, Knuckles managed to get everything done and meet Amy at their rendezvous point, fifteen minutes early.

"There you are, let's get this in my car so we can do some shopping!" The pink-hedgehog proclaimed excitedly.

"Shopping? I just did the shopping."

"For your outfit, silly, and maybe a gift for your surprise date!"

"Amy, this sounds like torture."

"It's supposed to be, oh I'll make sure your outfit matches hers! This is exciting." Knuckles shook his head at the strangeness of females.

Amy loved clothes, like most girls. Knuckles hated anything to do with all of this insanity. She had him trying on outfit after outfit. Suits, sweaters, polos, whatever they were called, he did not know and did not care. Finally he ended up in a pair of black dress pants, a black jacket and a white dress shirt shirt.

"Can I leave it slightly unbuttoned?"

Amy pondered his question. "Your muscular enough, she's into muscular guys, why not? Tastefully, though, not like you are barely wearing a shirt. You know what, when we get to Cream's I will judge that. Now for your shoes, I picked out a standard pair of blank dress shoes." They were standard all right, nothing to interesting.

"Are you going to make me take off my gloves, too?"

"Yes, none of use are wearing gloves this year, it's classier."

Knuckles but rolled his eyes. "I am going to get teased unmercifully for this."

"Not when you got that cute girl I have you set with as your girlfriend! Everyone, except Sonic and maybe Shadow, will be jealous."

"Why not them?"

"Sonic's got me and Shadow's got Rouge. Yes, Sonic is actually taking me as his date this year."

"Congratulations, what's in it for him?"

Amy punched him in the arm, playfully. "The pleasure of being with me. Now get changed out of those clothes! We got one more thing to get and then we have to set up for the party!"

"We?" 

* * *

Amy described this girl to Knuckles while he went to pick his blind date out a gift (weird, right? That's what he thought.) They looked at all sorts of jewelry and things; Knuckles just thought they were shiny. Amy thought he should get her this gold bracelet, but Knuckles found something else he liked much more.

"How about this?" He asked.

"That ring? I don't know, it's pretty odd if you ask me."

"It's not odd at all." The ring was silver, very polished silver. It was a simple band with curls of fire engraved on it. At the center, a stained violet metal rose lifted away not high. Knuckles thought this mystery chick would like it. "That's what we are getting."

"Fine, you didn't pick anything else out anyways."

"What's her ring size?"

"7 and a half." Knuckles proceeded to ask the clerk if they had that ring in that size. Fortunately they did, and it came wrapped in a box with red paper for Valentine's Day. 

* * *

Amy and Knuckles drove to Cream's house, where he ended up hanging all the decorations. The echidna still had no idea how he got roped into all of this. After Amy and Cream had gotten dressed they critiqued Knuckles' outfit

"No, no, it needs to have less buttons done." Amy said.  
"Maybe a few more, Amy." Cream sweetly replied.

"It's fine." With that Knuckles ended the discussion.

"What are we going to do with your hair?" Amy had her head tipped, thinking of possible ideas.

"Nothing." He replied.

"What if we just smooth it back and clean it up a bit?"

"Excellent suggestion, Cream." Amy then went to work on Knuckles dreads, though he grumbled. "There you go, now let's give you a quick lesson on manners."

"Lovely." Knuckles found himself sitting through another lecture on forks, knives, and conduct. What was this night going to be like? 

* * *

The guests began arriving at four, among the first were the members of Team Chaotix, Vector the crocodile, Espio the chameleon and Charmy Bee. Team Chaotix came without dates, there was not once in the history of these parties where they did. Knuckles always wondered how they could get away with it and wished he knew their secret. Chaotix and Knuckles were old friends, Vector had even asked Knuckles to be the head of Chaotix many times. He always refused, knowing that he had more important tasks.

"Hey, Echidna! Long time no see?" Vector greeted the echidna with one of those friendly but not too friendly man-hugs. Vector had always been a hugger.

"No kidding What's it been, since New Years?" Finally, Knuckles felt more comfortable at this party. Hanging out with Vector could loosen any situation.

"You need to come by more, Team Chaotix could use someone with your strength ever now and again."

"I know, Vector, but I really can't join Team Chaotix right now."

"Ah, you should just come by and go on a few missions with us, then we will see!" The croc gave his old friend a playful and swift punch on the arm.

"Nice try." Knuckles and his friend chuckled.

Vector, suddenly, was yelling across the room to the purple chameleon. "Espio, what are you doing! Get over here and say hello, you slimy lizard."

The chameleon moved with grace but clearly was irritated by his crocodilian friend. "Vector!" He yelled. Knuckles was used to him pronouncing words strangely, but it was really prevalent when he said Vector's name. He always emphasized the wrong part. "You are acting childish, what was the necessity behind that?"

"To get you to come over here, moron." Vector usually spoke brashly.

"You are an idiot sometimes." Espio turned to Knuckles. "Greetings, friend, how does the time pass for you?"

Knuckles had to keep from laughing at Espio's strange way of phrasing things. "Good, nothing unusual, you keeping up with your training?"

"Yes, Knuckles, I did everything you told me to do." Knuckles had trained Espio in the martial arts not long ago and the chameleon had instantly showed talent.

"Good."

"Knuckllllllles!" Flying straight for him was a none other than Charmy Bee. The energetic little creature smashed into Knuckles' chest, falling to the ground and causing laughter to erupt from Vector. Knuckles just stood there, unparsed by any of this.

"Your such a dork, Charmy!" Vector managed to fit in between his laughter.

"I'd say more of a fool, but I suppose dork works too." Espio wasn't laughing at Charmy but seemed to be slightly amused.

"Hi Charmy. I can see your excited." Knuckles said helping the bee up.

"Its awesome to see you! You need to come around Team Chaotix more!"

"That's what I said!" Vector added to Charmy's comments. Luckily, Knuckles wouldn't have to answer to them.

Amy strutted over. "Can't any of you act your age, Chaotix? What is going on that's so hilarious?"

Vector just started laughing again. "Well, well, well Miss Matchmaker, who did you set Knux up with this time?" Vector was excellent at changing the subject.

"You'll see, Vector. Maybe next year I'll set you up with somebody, then we will see who's laughing." Knuckles guessed Espio would be the one laughing, because now instead of Vector the chameleon was.

"That would be rather amusing, Amy. Please try." Charmy had joined Espio's laughter after Espio said this.

"Ha, ha, chameleon. You just wait until we get home and then I'm gonna strangle you!" Vector taunted.

"I'd like to see you try." Knuckles left the conversation because someone new had come to the door. Amy went to answer it.

"Rouge, Shadow, how good to see you!" She cheerfully greeted.

"Hey, girl. What's going on? I see Team Chaotix is here and Knuckles lookin' sharp!" That was the bat's way of calling Knuckles over.

"Hello, Rouge." The echidna had approached the couple. "Shadow." Knuckles nodded his head in the black hedgehog's direction, which he silently returned.

"Well come on in!" Amy led them into the party where Team Chaotix began to chat with them. Shadow and Knuckles ahd their own conversation.

"So, Rouge told me about your mystery date. She here yet?" Shadow asked Knuckles.

"Not yet. We will see how crazy it is this year. How much did you bet Sonic that I'll never see her again after the party?"

"Sonic's got fifty bucks riding on you never seeing her again, as does Vector. Silver says that you leave her halfway through the party, but I know you're too respectful for that. I had Rouge describe her to me, but I am not allowed to tell you. I bet that you see her once more then stop seeing her. Tails thinks this time your going to have a long term relationship."

"He said that for the past three years."

"Yeah, but this year he's confident. Tails put in one-hundred bucks."

"Woah, guess someone's a little too hopeful."

"Hm." This was a running bet among the guys, which Sonic had won three years in a row.

"I might just have to go out with her once more to show Sonic, that would be funny."

"I would like that, means I win." The dark hedgehog and Knuckles turned when they heard a knock at the door, speaking of the devil.

"Sonic!" Amy squealed.

"Hello, Amy, your looking gorgeous tonight." He then pulled a rose out of nowhere and put it in between his teeth. The blue hedgehog suddenly took Amy closer and held her in a romantic dip.

"Sonic!" Amy giggled. She kissed him on the cheek. "You're so handsome."

He stood her up and let go of her, removing the rose from his mouth. "Thank you!"

It was at that moment Tails entered through the door. "Hey Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, and the rest of you guys! Where's Cream?"

"Tails!" She came running out of the kitchen and gave him a big hug. "You're finally here!"

"Yup, I brought you something."

"Hey, no giving gifts until the gift exchange!" Amy yelled over. Cream just giggled.

"Look at that they finally did it." Knuckles said to Shadow.

"Who Sonic and Amy or Tails and Cream?"

"Both, I guess."

"At least we won't have to hear about it anymore."

"You think you have to hear about it? Ha! Amy and Cream feel like they have to unload all their emotional problems on me, I have no idea why."

"It's their deprivation from a strong male figure." Shadow spoke blandly, but Knuckles knew it was true.

"Why don't they cry on your shoulder then?"

"I'm colder than you. You are stronger and fiercer, and don't judge."

"Hm, hopefully I would need to deal with that anymore, just me and my task."

"And your new girlfriend."

Knuckles punched his arm. "Oh go suck face with Rouge."

"Shut up." With that Shadow walked away and did exactly as Knuckles said. Sonic was still flirting with Amy while Team Chaotix was talking with Tails and Cream. There was only one guy missing from the group, where's the fourth hedgehog?

Suddenly Knuckles question was answered when a silver hedgehog burst through the door. Silver the Hedgehog's hair looked a little wild, but nothing unusual.

"Hi, Silver! What's up?" The blue hedgehog greeted the silver one with a handshake, Amy following him.

"It is good to see you, Sonic and Amy, as it seems now you are inseparable for the night."

"You got that right." Amy laughed. "Did you bring a date?"

"No, my girlfriend couldn't come. I will try to have her meet you as soon as possible."

"You think this one is going somewhere then, Silver?" Knuckles walked over to Silver.

"Hey, Knuckles, how you been? Did you hear about my opinion for the bet?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"You seriously think Knuckles would be that rude? Come on man." Sonic laughed and Amy looked really confused.

"What bet, Sonic?" She asked but if Sonic told her, she would not be happy.

"I'll tell you later, Ames."

"You never know, Sonic. I don't think this is your year." Silver teased.

"We will see, Silver. So Amy, when is Knuckles date arriving?"

"Why do you care, hedgehog?" Knuckles sarcasm was back again.

"Because you're my buddy." Sonic had that stupid grin on his face.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. Silver, Sonic and Knuckles went and joined the other guys. The girls had gone into the kitchen to gossip and get the dinner ready, leaving them all alone.

"Looking spiffy Knuckles!" Sonic jeered, regarding Knuckles' attire. Sonic was dressed a bit more casually, a nice shirt and a pair black jeans. Of course he was wearing those red shoes.

"Your girlfriend dressed me."

"Oh common, you look like a nerd."

"I do not!"

"Yeah, Knux, you do." Silver added to the conversation.

"Do not."

"What did Amy call it business casual?" It was Vector's turn to be sarcastic. Knuckles jump from his seat and tackled the crocodile, jestingly.

"Moron." Knuckles added as he went back to his seat.

"I think you look nice, Knuckles." Tails was always so polite.

"What are we some girls at a sleepover? Talking about what we are wearing, this conversation is inane!" Espio declared.

"Yeah, Spi is right! We should be confirming the stuff for the bet." Charmy chimed.

"Good idea. Espio, Charmy you want in?" Vector was the one controlling the money.

"Yeah, put me down for twenty bucks on never sees her again after tonight." Charmy added pulling out a bill.

"Alright, we'll see. That makes a three way split between Sonic, Charmy and me on that category. Espio?"

"Why would we bet on this; it is ridiculous." He paused and thought for a moment. "Put me down for thirty for sees her twice afterwards."

"Woah, Espio making a new bet! Sweet. If Knuckles goes out with this mystery girl for more than five dates, Tail's gets the pot."

"Yeah right!" Silver laughed.

"Shut up, Silver! I think this is the time it will work out." Tails argued. Knuckles just sat there and kept his mouth shut. He, honestly, found this amusing.

"Hey, are we going out after this thing? I hear there's a good club down on Crisis Street." Knuckles thought it was time to change the subject.

"Of course. Should we take the girls?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am taking Rouge." Shadow left little room for compromise.

"Then we will take the girls, except for Knuckles."

"Hey, how do you know that?" Knuckles demanded Sonic.

"Easy, you never take them. Every year Amy sets you up with a date because you're not smooth like me." Sonic's arrogence was showing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simple, you're awkward around the ladies," Silver explained. "Your not charming."

Vector started laughing. "Yeah, Knux, you can't talk to a girl who isn't Cream, Rouge or Amy."

"Shut up, Vector, girls aren't going to like the scar on your face." Knuckles joked.

"Nah, I'll look tougher than you, then."

Out of nowhere there was a knock at the door. The guys all looked at each other, knowing who it was. Knuckles date had arrived and all the guys other than him began to snicker.

"Oh I wonder who that could be?' Sonic said in a girly manner. "I guess I will just have to go and answer the door. I'm sure she will be happy to know all about Knuckles the strong, handsome, echidna."

"Don't you dare, hedgehog!" Knuckles firmly commanded. The echidna got up and stood in the path of the hedgehog.

"Later, Knux!" Sonic then jumped over the couch and dashed to the door.

"Don't you dare, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Amy yelled as she marched into the room. "Girls, why don't we let the boys carry out all the dishes, our special guest is here!" Rouge and Cream came out of the kitchen.

"Well, you heard the lady! Go, make yourselves useful." Rouge said as she shooed the men into the kitchen. They walked in and were surrounded by delicious treats.

"We hit the jackpot guys!" Charmy declared while Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Check it out, Cream made cookies!" Sonic pointed to a plate of fresh cookies lying right out in the open. He then took one and popped it into his mouth.

"Amy is going to kill you." Espio warned.

"Nah, not once I give her my gift." Sonic then pulled out a pair of diamond studs with matching choker, real diamonds.

"Where did you get the money for those?" Silver asked, amazed at the splendor of the gift.

"Caught a jewelry store robber when he was trying to make his get away. The owner was so appreciative. When I told him about finding a gift for Amy, he showed gave me these. I got them for free, well almost free. That stupid robber gave me a bruise on the arm, but its already gone."

"Wow, Sonic. I just built something for Cream." Tails showed them a jewelry box, finely detailed. Finely carved and painted flowers created a meadow where a carving of Cream and her chao, Cheese, sat making necklaces. "It also play's Cream's favorite song, My Favorite Things, when you wind it up."

"You made that?" Charmy asked in awe of Tails' craftsmanship.

"Yup."

"That's really beautiful, Tails. She will love it.'

"Thanks."

"I got Rouge tickets to a concert she really wants to go to but were sold out. I also managed to get some backstage passes." Shadow explained.

"How did you do that?" Silver asked.

"Persuasion."

"Amy made me get my mystery girl a gift. I just got her this ring, I thought I looked cool." Knuckles showed them his unimpressive ring. Sure it wasn't a diamonds, or a sold out concert, or a handcrafted music box, but it was interesting.

"That ring is something that is kind of different. You don't even know this girl, Knuckles." Espio commented.

"I know but I followed my gut. Why would I really care anyways?" The guys now where carrying stuff out while Knuckles was actually finishing part of the salad that Rouge hadn't finished. Knuckles liked salads with all sorts of stuff in them and added strawberries, sunflower seeds, feta cheese and some other things. The rest of the guys had not come back into the kitchen, probably distracted by the girls. Knuckles took his salad, and the other three dishes the guys had forgotten about and walked out of the kitchen. The echidna looked at the clock, only five thirty?

Knuckles saw everyone standing around talking in little groups all inn their own conversation. He walked over and began placing what he was carrying on the table.

"There you are, Knuckles!" Amy came out of nowhere behind him, causing him to jump.

He did not turn around but focused on what he was doing. "Don't do that, Amy. I am carrying a lot of stuff."

"Oh please, I just wanted to introduce you to your date!"

Knuckles finished putting the stuff on the table and turned to face the girls. Standing next to Amy was a purple feline, a gorgeous purple feline. She was taller than Amy, and was much more shapely. The lavender woman was thin and her little black dress showed that. Her hair was down, falling beyond her shoulders in soft but straight. The bottom of her hair was a darker purple than the rest of it, but it was her eyes that really caught Knuckles attention. They were yellow and catlike but possessed fire. Her eyes glowed beautifully gold as she gazed back at him.

"Blaze, this is Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles, this Blaze the Cat." Amy introduced them. "You will like this Blaze, Knuckles is a guardian too."

"You are a guardian?" Blaze asked her voice very confident but melodic.

"Yeah," Knuckles was becoming nervous speaking to her. "I'm a guardian."

"I'll leave you too to get to know each other. Dinner is in an hour." Amy flitted back to her Sonic, leaving the pair alone.

Blaze was as uncomfortable as Knuckles. At least Amy had set her up with someone attractive this time. Knuckles was really muscular, and when Amy dressed him she had taken advantage of that. He had interesting dreadlocks, something Blaze had never seen before. Over all he was not wimpy, his face to his stature. Knuckles was on the tall side and had very board shoulders. Blaze definitely was attracted too him, if only now she could talk to him.

"So, you are a friend of Amy's." Knuckles knew it wasn't much but it was a start.

"Yes, as I presume you are."

"Whether I like or not." He added with a hint of sarcasm.

Blaze laughed a little. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know Amy, she just does what she does to get want she wants."

"She is very hard to say no to only because she won't take no for an answer."

"Good way to put it."

"Thank you. How long have you known her?"

"Since we were kids. You?"

"For about a year and a half. She's been adamant on setting me up with all of these different people."

"Trust me I know, she's been doing it to me for over three years. What's your story?"

"Excuse me?" Blaze did not understand his question.

"How did she talk you into coming?"

"She told my father. He wants me to stop being a tomboy and go out and do girly things, like dating. When he found out about my blind date, he basically ordered me to go and have fun. I don't usually attend this sort of event."

"I only do when it's with close friends. What do your father and family do for a living?"

"My father is king of a large country in my dimension and my mother is the queen. I am the princess and the guardian of our most powerful weapon and most valuable treasure, the Sol Emeralds."

Knuckles was stunned by what she had said. Amy had set him up with a princess? "Wow."

"And you?"

"I never had a family, I am the last of my people. I am the guardian of the Master Emerald and all the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

"Ah yes, I understand."

"Would you like a drink?"

"Thank you, that would be nice." Knuckles poured her a small glass of something fizzy and handed it to her. "Amy told me you are an old friend of Sonic's?"

"Yes, rivals but more friends. We fought against a common enemy, Robotnik, a couple of times."

"Strange that's how I became friends with Sonic, we were fighting my enemy

Eggman Nega and Dr. Eggman."

"That's ironic. What's your fighting style?"

Blaze was being to become very comfortable with this conversation. Talking about fighting and things like this was a lot better all that feeling nonsense a lot of guys thought she liked. "A mixture of dance, martial arts and magic. I was born with the ability to set myself on fire and shoot fire. I use the power of my Sol Emeralds when needed. How about you?"

"I am trained in man forms of martial arts. I prefer to use punches because I usually wear a pair of spiked gloves. My strength is often said to be equal to Sonic's speed and I can smash through solid rock. My dreadlocks allow me to glide through the air and I can cling to walls. I can access the Master Emerald's power when I need it."

"Amy made you take of your gloves, too, then."

"Yeah." 

* * *

Their conversation continued as bystanders regarded. Amy and Rouge looked at the pair pleased with their works.

"They seem to be hitting it off, how did you manage that?" Rouge commented.

"Its weird usually their both so reserved and hate chatting. I don't know, Rouge, maybe our match making skills have gotten better."

"I would like to think that. They would make a nice couple, though it seems like they are just talking."

"And?"

"He's not even flirting with her."

"You're right. I wonder what they are even talking about?"

"Knowing Knuckles and Blaze, probably fighting." Rouge laughed.

"Great that's just the way to get the love stirring." Amy replied sarcastically.

At this point Cream had come over and entered their conversation. "They're doing fine, you just have to let them fall for each other in their own way."

"Amen to that, Cream. Now, where's Shadow?" Rouge had ended their conversation.

"Over with the guys." Amy pointed to the black hedgehog and Rouge left her and Cream. 

* * *

Blaze and Knuckles were still talking but their sight of a kissing bat and hedgehog interrupted their conversation.

"Why do they do that? It is repulsive." Blaze expressed her dislike of that openly.

"Exactly what I say, everyone else thinks its sweet."

"Why would anyone think that?" She shook her head.

Knuckles shrugged. "Don't ask me, I'm just subjected to it."

A slight bit of laughter came from Blaze. "Guess we're in the same boat."

"You look really nice in that dress, Blaze." Knuckles did not even know where that came from; he had just blurted it out. What was he thinking?  
Blaze blushed and simply said, "Thank you." 

* * *

Amy and Cream hadn't been paying attention to Shadow and Rouge, but to the echidna and cat across the room.

"Did you hear that? He made her laugh! Blaze never laughs." Amy was enjoying her creation.

"Wow the must really be getting along, Knuckles is actually smiling to a girl!" Cream giggled.

"Oh this is so exciting!"

"We should stop spying on them, why don't we focus on our own dates instead?"

"Alright, fine." 

* * *

The guys (minus Shadow and Knuckles) where just as bad as the girls when it came to spying on the blossoming couple, but they were more interested in trying to find out who would win the bet.

"Looks like your not going to win, Silver. He's doing a good job acting." Sonic teased the silver hedgehog.

"Doesn't look like you're going to win either, Sonic. He's got her laughing and she's got him smiling." Silver replied. Sonic retorted childishly with a tongue.

"You wait and see, she'll do something that makes him uncomfortable and he'll play it cool tonight but never call her tomorrow." Sonic would have the last word because Amy and Cream had walked over to their dates. The guys all knew that Amy would not be happy with them if she found out what they were doing, with the possible exception of Tails. 

* * *

The couple across the room knew that they were being watched, and found it both disturbing and amusing. Blaze had really taken a liking to this echidna; she could see this working out. She was attracted to him, he was a nice guy but edgy. The more she talked to him the more she felt those butterflies in her stomach. She liked him, and not just liked him, really LIKED him.

"We should do something really outrageous, to teach those nosy jerks a lesson." Knuckles joked and laughed.

"That would be funny, like what?"

Knuckles had something in mind, something he wanted to do for a while. "Like this." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek, sending her on a one way trip to Oh-My-God-Did-He-Really-Do-That? Land. She was floored, and afterwards was left blushing like an idiot; she knew she had enjoyed it.

Now I know why they do that, was the first thought that came to Knuckles mind. He probably shouldn't have kissed a girl he barely knew but he really had never felt this attracted to someone before. If his fur weren't scarlet she would have known that he was blushing like an idiot too; he knew they had enjoyed it. 

* * *

Amy was almost screaming, this had gone a lot differently than she had expected. Rouge had stopped kissing Shadow and given her that OMG DID YOU JUST SEE THAT, look. Amy returned it with an OMG I JUST DID gape. The room had gone silent, really silent, even the guys were stunned.

Amy knew the only why to break the silence. "Oh look, it's time for dinner!" 

* * *

Amy had placed quaint little name cards around the table. On her right sat her date Sonic and on his right Tails. Tails was next to his date Cream who was next to Charmy Bee. Next to him was the rest of Team Chaotix, Espio then Vector. Amy had seated Blaze and after her Knuckles between Vector and Silver. The final couple was seated next to Silver, Shadow and then Rouge was on Amy's left. Dinner consisted of salads, pastries, sandwiches and all sorts of little things. Conversation was pleasant, and the company was enjoyable.

"Cream, this dinner is lovely." Blaze complimented.

"Yeah, Cream and Amy sure can through a party, right Knux?" Vector added, Knuckles instantly picking up on what he was saying, and gave him a freezing glare.

"Yes, Vector. Cream and Rouge are excellent cooks and Amy is an energetic hostess." Knuckles replied not speaking his mind.

"Thank you, Knuckles." Rouge said. Cream just giggled appreciatively and Amy smiled.

"Your sure got quite a guy there, Blaze." Vector elbowed her and she glared back at him.

Blaze answered his remark with briskness. "He is quite the guy, Vector, considerate, interesting and has excellent manners." The entire table burst out laughing, even Shadow was laughing at Blaze's statement. Blaze turned to Knuckles. "What is so funny?"

"Knuckles has excellent manners, since when?" Sonic managed to say between laughs.

"Excuse me, Sonic?" Blaze accused.

It wasn't Sonic who answered but Amy, "Knuckles has a hard time with stuff like that."

"I would never suspect that."

Charmy was still laughing. "He just met you and he kissed you! Wouldn't that say something about him?"

The laughter ceased, Charmy wished he could have taken back those words. Espio slapped him on the back of the head, it was the only noise in the room.

"Ow."

"Serves you right, why would you say that?" Espio chided.

"Sorry, Blaze."

Blaze shook her head. "Why would you apologize to me, it is Knuckles you insulted."

"Nah Charmy, your right, but maybe if you weren't all spying on us…" He and Blaze exchanged smiles and laughed.

"Wait, so you did this because we were spying on you?" Sonic said in an amused outrage.

"Yes, maybe you could use a lesson on manners, Sonic." Blaze teased. Sonic had no witty return but was left gaping. Knuckles laughed and put his arm around her, which she did not instantly push away.

Meanwhile, Rouge noted this gesture. She leaned over to Amy and whispered, "Looks we got ourselves a match."

"That's affirmative." They then gave each other a slight high-five. 

* * *

After dinner had been cleaned up all the cookies and sweets were placed out around the room. Heart shaped cookies, brownies, all that candy Knuckles had picked up, and the coffee and cheesecakes. Everyone sat, talked, laughed and ate. The couples sat with each other close and cuddly. Amy even noticed Knuckles and Blaze sitting closer than friends, his arm around her yet again. Sonic had his arm around her and was holding her hand; Amy had to keep from squeezing him until she broke his hand.

"Hey Knux! Are you taking her out afterwards with us?" Vector gave his friend a slight push and laughed.

"Only if she wants to." Knuckles smiled and turned to Blaze. "We're all going out to one of those new clubs afterwards, care to come?"

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Well, um I…"

"Yes he is!" Amy couldn't keep herself from yelling it out.

"That sounds wonderful, I've never been to a club." Blaze answered.

"You'll like it, we usually go to dance clubs. They tend to be more fun." Knuckles leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Just stay away from Shadow and Rouge."

Blaze whisper back, "I assumed that." They both began laughing. The other couples wondered what they said but decided it was better not to ask.

"Why don't couples give each other their gifts?" Amy piped up. It seemed like an appropriate time.

"That's a great idea, Amy." Tails was so excited to give Cream his gift; he had been looking forward to it for weeks! "Can I go first?"

"Shoot, Tails." Amy was really curious as to what he had gotten Cream.

Tails turned to the rabbit sitting next to him. "Cream, I know its nothing, you know, very spectacular but I thought it really was something you would love." Tails handed her a little gift bag tied with cute like white ribbons. Cream daintily opened it and pulled out the little music box.

"Oh Tails its beautiful." She was completely in awe of the little thing.

"Wind it up, it plays music." Cream did as Tails had said and a version of My Favorite Things played from the little box.

"Oh Tails that's my favorite song! Is that supposed to be Cheese and…me? Did you make this yourself?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what to get you."

"Its perfect Tails." Cream said in her sweet voice, and then gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "I love it, thank you."

"Wow, Tails, you made that? That's freaking awesome!" Amy said impressed by his skill.

"Thank you, Amy."

Cream pulled out Tail's gift. "Here, I want you to have this." Tails opened theh box to find a handmade scarlet scarf.

"Cream, it looks so warm. I'll have to wear it when I go flying! Did you make this?"

"Yes."

"Thank you so much! That was really nice of you."

Cream blushed and said. "Your welcome."

Amy looked around. "I vote Shadow to go next!"

Shadow was not as exited as Tails but he knew that Rouge would like her gift. He did not need to say anything he just handed her the red gift bag. Rouge opened it and did something completely out of her character, squealed.

"Are these tickets to the concert, how did you get these they have been sold out for months!"

"Friend of a friend, there's more."

Rouge dove deeper into the bag. "Back stage passes, I love you." Shadow smiled slightly at her ecstatic. "Here, I think you'll light these." She handed him a card

Shadow open it. "We're going skydiving? You're awesome." He kissed her on the lips, causing Knuckles and Blaze to gag a little.

"Hey Shadow! You guys can make out later, I want to know what Knuckles got Blaze." Vector's words had directed attention on Knuckles and Blaze.

"I was going to give her my gift later." Knuckles had an idea, besides the guys would make this a lot harder than it had to be.

Vector shrugged, that meant it was Sonic's turn. "Amy, I know you've waited for a long time for me to take that final step into boyfriend, so I knew that I really needed to wow you. Open it."

Sonic handed Amy a box wrapped in pink paper. She was so excited and curious; she tore through the paper with vigor. When she reached the shiny diamonds, Amy screamed and attacked Sonic with a giant hug and kisses. "Thank you! Oh My God, you're so amazing. I'm never letting you go!"

"Amy, you're hurting me." Sonic managed to say.

She let go. "Sorry, I felt like I, too, had to go overboard. Here!" She handed him a little package. When he opened it he got a giant smile on his face.

"We're going on a trip to Chirssing Lake. I love it there!"

"I knew you would like it."

"When are we going?"

"Next weekend. Knuckles already said he would watch your place and I live with Cream so we're all set."

Sonic leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I can't wait."

"So lovebirds, you guys want to get going soon?" Vector asked.

"Sure, I have to put this away and get my purse first." Amy got up nodding to Cream and Rouge, who followed her.

The guys went to get their stuff; meanwhile Knuckles took Blaze's hand and led her outside to Cream's garden. It was very dark, but Blaze had a solution. She had taken a candle out with them and lit it with her fire. She set it on of he tables outside and its flicker illuminated a small area.

"Blaze, I know its nothing spectacular like what all the other couples did but I think it's the right choice. I want you to have this." Knuckles handed her a small jewelry, not even wrapped. She lifted the top and found a ring. It was a purple rose, painted creamy lightly. The silver band was covered with engraved flames, how would he have known about that?

"Its perfect."

"Everyone told me it wouldn't work. After meeting you, I knew it would."

Blaze's face turned red with what he said. This little ring represented what there was between them. She hadn't gotten him anything but she did have something…

"I wasn't planning on giving you anything, but I want you to have this." Blaze had been wearing a small dagger on her thigh, she always did. She took the small dagger out of a sheath. It had her family crest on it, engraved it a silver hilt. "It has the crest of my family on it. Its nothing much but I think you should carry it."

"I don't know what to say, Blaze."

"I know." She leaned to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day Knuckles."  
He smiled and pulled her close to him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Blaze."

* * *

 **This is special for me, the fic that got me to like this Pairing as my favourite. So I hope you enjoyed it, if I don't have troubles for it, Ill be publishing more soon, since I have to take time to edit the format to match Fanfiction's.**

 **That would be all, thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!**

 **All of this belongs to Yelta, from DeviantArt, remember to go support her there. I'd leave a link but FF doesn't allow external links.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Neither Blaze nor Knuckles had a car with them, Knuckles had gotten a ride with Amy to the party and Blaze had taken a cab. Fortunately for them, Silver was willing to give them a ride. Why Silver, Shadow and especially Sonic traveled in cars was a mystery to Knuckles. Sonic could run faster than the speed of sound and the other two were not too far behind, Knuckles did not know of a car that went as fast. Even he usually walked places but it was dark and the club was far, so it made sense to drive. That being said, the other guys could still be there in a minute.

"You said you know this new club, Knux? What's it called?" Silver asked as they sat at a red light. Cream and Amy did not live downtown, more in the upper area of town. It was a bit more suburban than where they were going.

"Scorpio, apparently it's decently exclusive hot spot."

"Sweet. How did you find out about it?"  
"One of my clients told me about it, he was asked to attend the opening."

Blaze looked a bit concerned at what Knuckles said. It could mean a number of things that were not a very appealing thought. He could be a lawyer, a business or owner or a dealer or…

"Clients?" Blaze asked, with a skeptic cock of her eyebrow.

Silver burst out laughing. "What did you think he was doing something illegal? Knuckles is a personal fitness trainer for a gym, and some celebrities."

"Really, Knuckles?"

"Yeah. A gym hired me to do personal training and teach classes. One day I got a call from Usher the Fox, asking me how much I would charge for work out sessions. Pretty soon, I was getting lots of calls. I took on more clients and could continue to use the gym's facilities if I kept doing training for them and teaching classes." Knuckles then paused. "Damn it, Silver! You took the wrong turn."

"What?" Silver exclaimed. "No I didn't. You said take a right Spring Boulevard."

"You took a left."

"I took a left? Son of Robotnik."

"Everyone is following us, Silver." Knuckles made fun of Silver's error.

"I know everyone is following us." Silver said in that half-frustrated, half- laughing manor.

"Wow, Silver. You really-"

"Shut up, Knuckles." Silver's phone rang, suddenly. Even though he was driving he chose to answer it. "Yeah, Amy." Pause. "Yes, I turned the wrong way." Pause. "I took a left turn." Pause, with a wince from Silver. "How did you know it was a right turn?" Pause. "Well, that's unnecessary." Blaze laughed a little.

"Silver! You just missed the turn around. Give me the phone, you can't talk and drive at the same time." Knuckles pulled the phone out of Silver's hands. "What, Amy?" Pause. "Focus, Amy." Pause. "Yeah, Silver missed the turn around. Hang on for a moment Amy." He held the phone away from his ear. "Silver, we can turn onto 44th and loop around Scrap. Take the next RIGHT." He looked back to Blaze and asked, "Do you know you're left from your right?"

She laughed. "Yes, I do."

"Good. Direct Silver for me." He took the phone back to his ear. "Sorry, Amy. Don't worry; we're back on track to Starlight Avenue."

"That way, Silver." Blaze leaned forward from the backseat and pointed the way for Silver.

"Thank you, Blaze." Silver said sarcastically.

"I know, Amy. It's good we have her." Knuckles said on the phone. "Alright. I'll talk to you when we get there. It's called Scorpio." He hung up the phone and put it between him and Silver. "When we can get back to Marble take the left on Spring, remember we are coming from another direction."

"I'm not stupid, Knuckles."

"No you are not, you just don't pay attention." 

* * *

Even with that whole ordeal, they found a parking lot a block off of Starlight Avenue. Starlight Avenue was the party street in Mobius city; all sorts of clubs and bars opened their doors here. The Scorpio was one of the many.

"Hey nice move, Albino!" Sonic teased as they were all meeting up after getting out of their cars.

"Ha. Ha. Sonic. Wait, did you just call me Albino?" Silver said with slight offense.

"Yup."

"I'm going to-"

Rouge then stepped between them, separating them with her arms. "Boys, boys! Can't we finish this later? We ladies would like to get moving."

Both of them backed down, mumbling sorries. Sonic, Amy, Tails, Cream, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Espio, Vector, Charmy and Blaze and Knuckles set off down the sidewalk towards the glittering lights of Starlight Avenue.

"Knuckles said this place was decently exclusive hot spot. This should be a fun night." Silver told the others as they walked.

"How are we sure we can get in if its exclusive?" Blaze asked.

"Trust me that won't be a problem." Sonic said with one of his signature reassuring winks causing Amy to giggle while Shadow and Knuckles rolled their eyes.

"Hey guys, its right up ahead." Vector brought to their attention.

"Alright you guys know the drill when we get to the bouncer. Blaze, just sit back, relax and enjoy the show." Sonic led up the group with this statement. They had pulled this many times before. Sonic, tailed closely by Shadow and Silver, suddenly bolted ahead and got them a place in line. By the time the others arrived, they were two away from the front. In little time the big porcupine bouncer was before them.

"Hey, how about you let me and my friends in?" Sonic asked with his natural charisma.

"Why? You are not somebody," the bouncer scoffed.

"Not somebody?" Amy stepped up to Sonic's side, speaking forcefully. "Do you even know who he is? He's Sonic THE Hedgehog! You know, the one that is constantly saving the world and all that?"

Vector came up behind Sonic and put a hand on his shoulder. "I guess saving the world just doesn't cut anymore these days, Sonic. I suppose your hard work doesn't qualify you to be somebody. Laziness is key. Next time we have an Eggman attack-"

"Alright I get! He's Sonic THE Hedgehog." The bouncer finally blurted out. Vector and Amy smiled and slid back into the group. "But who are they?"

"The Sonic Team and friends of course! They are just as important in saving the planet from disaster. That guy right there, Miles Tails Prower. He's the best mechanical genius around! Amy Rose, is a master of the Piko Piko hammer, my fashion consultant and date tonight. Cream the Rabbit, is over pastry chef and is sweeter than the treats. Then you have Silver the Hedgehog. He's sort of fast. Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat and the two standing right there. Shadow's fast, but not as fast as me. Rouge is one of the elite G.U.N members. Team Chaotix also is with us; they do all of our detective work. Princess Blaze the Cat is the one standing next to the red dude. She's a princess from another dimension, no lie. Finally we have Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the Master Emerald and the trainer of celebrities, including Usher Fox."

"Fine." The bouncer removed the red velvet rope. "Have a nice evening."

Sonic smiled as he proudly led his group into the dance club. 

* * *

The first thing Knuckles noticed about this club was that it was big. There were several lounges, bars and an immense, crowded, dance floor. Of course it was dark with all sorts of funky lighting flashing and the music was so loud you almost had to yell to sound like a whisper. The DJ was elevated a bit up from the dance floor, and from the stacks of records behind him, Knuckles could guess that he had a pretty large library of music.

"Nice choice, Knuckles." Sonic elbowed him on the side Blaze was not on. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go join the party." Sonic took Amy by the hand and led her into the crowd. Quickly following him were Rouge and Shadow, Cream and Tails, Team Chaotix, Silver, and Knuckles and Blaze.

As he led her through the crowd and tried to stay with the group Knuckles yelled to Blaze, "How do you like so far?"

She laughed. "It seems like a fun atmosphere."

"It hasn't even started yet." Finally Sonic had found a good place and the group came to a stop. By now a new house dance mix was blaring over the speakers. Sonic and Amy were dancing together, as were Cream and Tails. Shadow and Rouge were also dancing but Knuckles knew that in a few minutes, he would not want to look their way. Chaotix and Silver were having a great time flirting with random girls. Usually Knuckles was with them but this time he had a date. He really didn't know what to do…

"Okay, now what?" Blaze asked. The whole club scene was new to her.

"I'm not really sure."

"You said you go to clubs all the time."

"Yeah but usually without…um…"

Blaze laughed. "What do you do without a date?"

"Laugh at Vector trying to flirt with girls."

"I don't think that will work. What are the other couples doing?" Blaze turned to look at Rouge and Shadow.

"Ah! Don't look over there." Knuckles stopped her before she would be traumatized. "Trust me, copying them is a bad move."

"Good point. Tails and Cream are too sweet."

"Sonic and Amy are way to stereotypical."

"This is hard."

"How about we just try dancing how we would but…closer together?" Knuckles asked, with a bit of hesitation.

"Alright. Let's just dance." As soon as Blaze said that guess what song blared over the speakers? Both of them laughed at the irony. The song was a good one to start with. They naturally let the beat dictate their movements. Blaze was surprised that Knuckles was a good dancer and had rhythm. Knuckles was shocked that someone as serious and reserved as Blaze would openly singing the words to the song.

"What's going on on the floor?  
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore  
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?  
I can't remember but it's alright, a-alright  
Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm  
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm  
Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-d-dance  
Dance, dance, just, j-j-just dance"

Then Knuckles openly laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I never would have expected you to break into song like that."

"Yeah, that is uncharacteristic of me. This place is just makes me so loose and feel fun."

"Feel fun? You are fun."

Blaze actually blushed. "Thank you, I've never been described as that."

"Don't stop singing. Your voice is really pretty."

She laughed. "Wow, you're just full of compliments tonight."

"There's something that people don't use to describe me."

"Guess we bring that out in each other." 

* * *

Amy was having the time of her life with Sonic, but she still found herself glancing over at her creation. She liked what she saw.

"They really hit it off. I don't think Blaze has smiled as much as she has tonight then she has in a year! And Knuckles, he's not acting extremely awkward or ignoring her."

"You're a stalker, Amy." Sonic teased.

"But, I'm your stalker!"

"No kidding."

She hit him playfully on the arm and laughed. "How long until Chaotix does something stupid?"

"Not long. I wonder if they drag Silver into it." 

* * *

Chaotix was already planning something stupid and they had included Silver. Vector had come up with the idea, and Charmy and Silver immediately went along with it. Espio told them they were acting childish and refused to take part in this little scheme. He was going to tell Knuckles, but Vector grabbed him and pushed him somewhere else on the crowded dance floor.

"Now initiate project Irritate the Echidna!" Vector yelled to Silver and Charmy. They made there way through the crowded dance floor towards Blaze and Knuckles.

Blaze and Knuckles were still dancing together.

"I can't remember the last time I had this much fun." Blaze yelled to Knuckles over the loud music.

Knuckles was about to say something when Vector, Silver and Charmy suddenly came out of the crowd. Vector slid between Knuckles and Blaze and the guys started dancing fairly vulgarly (but nothing compared to what Shadow and Rouge were doing) around Blaze.

"Hey, Blaze! You enjoying the party?" Silver teased.

"She likes it, don't she?" Vector's comment irritated Knuckles and Blaze.

Blaze did not appreciate the males and decided to teach them a lesson. "Yeah, I like it, you're on fire!" The guys thought that she was playing along with them to annoy Knuckles, until she actually set them on fire.

"Ah, I'm on fire!" Charmy shrieked.

"Stop, drop and roll! Stop, drop and roll!" Silver yelled and the guys followed the orders on the crowded dance floor.

Knuckles was laughing so hard, he couldn't breathe. "You guys are morons!"

By now Espio had found them, mostly because everyone in the club was staring. "What happened?"

"Blaze taught those idiots a lesson." Knuckles was still laughing.

"Nice job. Serves them right." Even Espio was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

The stop drop and roll had worked. Vector, Silver and Charmy hopped up to see Blaze looking at them with a mocking 'You just got served' look (but she would never phrase it like that), Knuckles laughing, Espio trying hard not to, and the rest of the club staring at them like they were at a freak show.

"Well that back-fired." Silver said.

"Literary, apparently." Espio commented with a disapproving edge.

"Come on, Blaze. Why don't we go get drinks?" Knuckles asked her.

"Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea." Blaze turned to Vector, Silver and Charmy. "Thank you for the entertainment." Blaze and Knuckles then made their way through the crowded dance floor towards the bar, leaving behind three embarrassed guys and a smiling chameleon. 

* * *

The bar was crowded, like the dance floor. Knuckles found Blaze a seat and slid behind her. One of the bartender was a spunky-looking female wolf, who had clearly dyed her fur a couple of crazy colors.

"What can I get for ya?" The bartender cheerfully asked.

"Blaze?"

"I don' know, Knuckles. I've never really been somewhere like this." Blaze had never been to a bar before.

"First time to a high end club?" The bartender questioned.

"First time to a club." Knuckles answered.

"Where have you been!" The bartender said this line with a funny sort of outrage. "You picked a good place to start. You know what, I have just the thing for ya. Hang on a second." The bartender grabbed a whole bunch of things and mixed them together in a glass. "Here ya go. Its my creation. Nothin' too sweet but nothin' too strong but just right."

Blaze took a sip of the concoction. "Wow this is really good. You have quite a talent."

The bartender laughed loudly. "Quite a talent, I like that. I'll make sure to use that quote when people ask me about this drink. How about you, handsome?"

"Something strong. Surprise me."

"Strong? We like to have fun, don't we!" The bartender turned and mixed up another concoction. " 'Nother one of my mixtures. Go on, give her a try!"

Knuckles sipped the liquid. "Nice job. Very strong."

"How long you two been together? First anniversary or second anniversary?"

Blaze and Knuckles looked at each other and laughed. Knuckles answered the bartender. "We just met tonight, really, for the first time."

Blaze continued, "Our friend set us up."

"How about that! Tell her she's a good matchmaker. You two are perfect for each other."

As if on cue Amy and Sonic were walking up to the bar. "Sonic! Amy!" Knuckles yelled, both of them turned and walked up to Blaze and Knuckles.

"What's up, lovebirds." Sonic asked as he lead Amy to the open seat next to Knuckles. "What are you drinking?"

"This bartender makes her own mixes. They are rather wonderful." Blaze said.

"Awesome. Ames, you want to try some mixes?"

"Sounds good, sugar."

Knuckles chuckled. "Did she just call you sugar?" Sonic punched Knuckles arm, both Amy and Blaze were laughing.

"Brought friends, I see. What can I do for ya?" The same female bartender asked Amy and Sonic.

"Something sweet and something with a kick. My friends suggest your own mixes?" Sonic's charming voice made the wolf giggle.

"Well, if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog. I fix you and the lady something good." The bartender mixed some things together. "Something sweet for her, something kicking for him." The bartender paused for a moment. "Now I have to ask you two something, did these too really just meet tonight? I think they're pulling my leg."

Sonic and Amy laughed. Amy answered, "No, they're telling the truth. I set them up."

"Really? Nice job. Hang on a second, I got someone I want you to meet." The bartender left and then returned dragging another bartender by the arm. He was a male wolf, but he was solid gray.

"What are you doing, Lola?" He asked the multicolored female with a laugh.

"This girl is a matchmaker, Aaron. I want her opinion." The female wolf turned to Knuckles, Blaze, Amy and Sonic. "This is my fiancé, Aaron."

"Oh, congratulations." Blaze said with a smile.

"Thank you." Aaron looked to Lola. "Did you make friends, Lols?" Aaron looked back to Blaze. "Everyone she meets instantly becomes her friend."

She smacked him playfully on his arm. "Oh, ya little brute. Being friendly never hurt anyone."

Amy laughed. "My match-making senses tell me that you two are a great match and you will have a wonderful life being married."

"See, and she set those two up!" Lola pointed to Knuckles and Blaze. "Trust me they just met and they already are like a married couple!"

Aaron laughed. "Oh, Lola. I love you."

"Well looks like we've been neglecting our customers! Get back to work, slacker." Lola and Aaron laughed.

"What will that come to?" Knuckles asked.

"Ah, what do you think?" The bartender was caught up flirting with Aaron. Knuckles lay down one-hundred and fifty dollars for all four of their drinks.

"Hey, Shadow's got a place at on of the lounges. Shall we take our drinks and join them?" Sonic asked.

"Sure." Sonic lead Amy and Knuckles and Blaze followed. 

* * *

By the time Amy, Sonic, Knuckles and Blaze had gotten to the lounge where their friends were sitting everyone else had claimed their seats. Shadow and Rouge were sitting together as were Tails and Cream. Chaotix and Silver were chilling out as well.

"Hey, Knuckles, Blaze, how's your evening been?" Tails asked enthusiastically.

"Good Tails," Knuckles answered. "Your's?"

"Any day is good as long as I'm with Cream." Cream blushed and giggled.

"Aw, Sonic. Isn't that cute?" Amy leaned on to Sonic as they sat down. The blue hedgehog just shrugged his shoulders in that sort of careless manner he often did. Cute? Sonic the Hedgehog really didn't think of things as "cute".

"What kind of a drink is that, Knux?" Knuckles and Blaze were next to Team Chaotix and Vector had taken a look at Knuckles drink.

"Something a bartender created. It's pretty good."

"She was quite a character, wasn't she?" Blaze remarked.

"No kidding." Knuckles gave a slight laugh.

"So, how has our blossoming romance been going?" Rouge out of nowhere asked to Knuckles and Blaze. "You two seem to being taking quite a fancy to each other."

Blaze was a bit flustered with Rouge's question and statement. She thought Knuckles was a nice, fun guy but blossoming romance? Yeah, she liked him but still…she thought that was a bit extreme.

"Blossoming romance, Rouge?" Knuckles answered and laughed. "Hate to break it to you but we're not flowers."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Knuckles? Nice way of denying you like her." Rouge said sarcastically.

"I'm not denying anything, Rouge. I don't openly express affection as you and Shadow do."

"So you do like her!"

"Stop talking about Blaze like she's not in the room, Rouge."

"You're trying to change the subject."

"I just met her!" Knuckles then slid a bit closer to Blaze. "But I will say this, Blaze is a very fun and pleasant person to be around and is much better then any of the previous dates you set me up on."

"How sweet," Shadow's dark voice said sarcastically.

Rouge looked at the black hedgehog sitting next to her and laughed. "You just know that in a couple of months they'll be just like us."

Sonic leaned over to Amy and whispered to her, "And I thought THEY where over the top, but Knuckles and Blaze being all like that…ew."

"I heard that, Sonic!" Both Knuckles and Shadow said at the exact same time, meanwhile Amy giggled.

"On a lighter note, how are you enjoying the club, Blaze?" Amy asked.

"It is quite an interesting place. If we have these where I come from I would never be allowed to go to one."

"Why is that?"

"I have a hard time back home going busy places because I am the guardian and I am royalty. A lot of people think of me as a celebrity, I really don't like it. It is nice to finally get away from all of that."

"Well if your ever looking to go undercover, talk to me!" Vector laughed. "After you burned me back there, I decided that you would be a good addition to Chaotix."

Espio shook his head. "Why must you try to convince everyone to join Chaotix?"

"Not everyone, just Knuckles and Blaze." Charmy apparently got a kick out of this because he started laughing and when he realized that no one else on he let it die away awkwardly.

"That reminds me, Vector! I have something for you at the shop. Stop by whenever to check it out."

"Cool Tails, I will."

"I saw it the other day Vector. Tails did a really nice job."

Cream's comment left Tails blushing. "Thanks, Cream."

"Well, I'm bored. Let's go back out on that dance floor, sweetheart, and have some fun!" Sonic took Amy's hand and pulled her away from the others.

"Rougie?" Shadow asked.

"I'm game." Then they left.

"Come on Tails, let's go dance!" Cream then took Tails' hand and they walked together to the dance floor.

"Chaotix plus Silver! Let's go party!" Then the other four were gone. All that was left was Blaze and Knuckles.

"Blaze, care to dance?"

"It would be my pleasure." Together the two of them slid through the crowd in search of a place near the others. 

* * *

It was Valentine's Day, therefore the DJ decided that it was time to play a bunch of songs that had to do with romance and when a girl loves a boy and a boy loves a girl sort of thing. Knuckles didn't know any of the songs and neither did Blaze.

"Why would someone waste their time with these songs? They're boring and all about the same thing." Blaze remarked as the two of them danced.

"I agree completely! Everyone else thinks they're so deep and meaningful." Knuckles commented. It was then that he noticed the ring on her finger. It was catching the crazy lighting really wonderfully. "Do you like your ring?"

"Yes, very much. I was a bit afraid when I saw that you had a ring box in your hand. I thought it would be something really shiny and girly, but this is much better."

"Most people would think that it is strange that you gave me a dagger, but I think it's really interesting."

"Why don't they write about things like this in those love songs? Two people having fun together and exchanging gifts that really mean something."

"Because no one would get it."

Another Song had ended and the DJ's voice came over the speakers. "Can I have tonight's couples come out to the floor now for a special Valentine's Day song?" People shuffled either on to the floor or off of it. "This on goes out to all of our lovebirds tonight." The musical intro began for an older song and the crazy lights became calm.

"I like Aerosmith, this is one of the few songs about love I think is nice."

"This is one of my favorite songs, the lyrics are beautiful." Blaze told Knuckles.

He extended his hand to her. "May I have this dance?"

"Of course." For the first time ever, Knuckles took a girl close to him and danced with her and this was this first guy Blaze would trust to do so.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing  
Watch you smile while you are sleeping  
While you're far away and dreaming  
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
I could stay lost in this moment forever  
Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

Don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing

Lying close to you feeling your heart beating  
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming  
Wondering if it's me you're seeing  
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
I just wanna stay with you in this moment forever, forever and ever

I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing

I don't wanna miss one smile, I don't wanna miss one kiss  
I just wanna be with you, right here with you, just like this  
I just want to hold you close, feel your heart so close to mine  
And just stay here in this moment for all the rest of time

Don't wanna close my eyes, don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing

I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing

I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
Yeah, I don't wanna miss a thing

"Happy Valentine's Day, folks!" The DJ said over the speakers, then another house mix began to blare through the club. Blaze and Knuckles didn't notice, they were still caught in the moment.

"Thank you, Knuckles. That was lovely."

"Thank you, Blaze. Why don't you go take a seat at the lounge and I'll get you a drink?"

"Alright." 

* * *

Blaze was sitting at the lounge, remembering what just happened. It had been like dancing on a cloud. She had never felt like that before. Could she actually see herself in a relationship with Knuckles? Blaze had thought it would just be a one time thing, but that whole experience had changed that thought.

Suddenly Blaze realized she was no longer alone and a whole group of guys had come to the lounge. They were not the group she had come with. One, a raccoon, decided to sit a bit too close for Blaze's comfort.

"Hey, can I buy you a drink?" The close one asked her.

"No, thank you." She replied blandly.

"You come here often?"

"No."

"You should. Its not often I see a cute thing like you here."

"Excuse me?"

His friends laughed. "Don't scare her Marco!" One of them teased.

"Aw shut up, Mick." The one called Marco replied. "She's just flattered."

"As flattered as I am," Blaze said in a cold sarcastic way, "I would prefer if you would leave me alone."

"What, a pretty thing like you all alone?" He put his arm around her. "I couldn't bare to see that!"

"Get your hands off of her!" Knuckles yelled at the raccoon. He placed the drinks down and in one swift motion was standing in front of Marco.

"Why? She seems to like it."

"I highly doubt that. Get lost, before I beat the daylight out of you!"

The raccoon stood up and sized up Knuckles. "I'd like to see you try."

"You're an idiot." Knuckles didn't even give the guy time to think. He punched him square in the jaw and sent him flying backwards into a chair.

"Oh, you're asking for it!" The guy got back up and went to tackle Knuckles, but Knuckles easily avoided it. Instead, Knuckles ended up punching the guy in the gut. "That's it!" Marco then pulled out a pocketknife and brandished it towards Knuckles.

Knuckles by this point was fuming. He quickly disarmed the guy and grabbed him by the collar and barked in his face, "Listen, loser, you don't go pulling knives on people even if they are weak like pocket knives. Don't let me see your face again and don't you DARE go near Blaze. You got that?" The guy nodded his head, terrified that Knuckles was going to kill him. "Good, consider yourself lucky." Knuckles punched him one more time in the stomach. The guys then ran off like the weaklings they were.

Sonic came running over. "Woah, Knux, what happened?"

"Don't worry about it, Sonic."

"You just got into a fight. What did that guy do?"

Shadow was the next to arrive. "That was not a fight. A fight implies that it was two sided." Knuckles laughed at Shadow' comment.

Blaze then stood up. "Some ignorant raccoon was being inappropriate."

"Oh, so some guy was hitting on you?" Sonic smirked.

"If that is what you call it, then yes."

"Wait until Amy and Rouge here about this!" Sonic laughed.

"Hey guys," Tails came up next to Sonic, "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, Tails, we're fine but if Sonic doesn't keep his mouth shut, I fear he won't be." Knuckles threw Sonic an irritated glare, which Sonic retorted to with a stuck out tongue.

"Why don't we all go out and dance some more before we get going?" Tails suggested.

"What time is it?" Knuckles asked.

"12:30"

"Huh, a lot later than I thought." Knuckles turned to Blaze. "Shall we."

"Let's." 

* * *

The group spent the next half an hour dancing. The fast paced songs were back on the stereo, and the fun atmosphere returned. It went by very quickly and soon they decided it was time to leave. On the walk back to the cars Blaze and Knuckles walked a bit ahead of the rest of the group.

"So how long are you in town for?" Knuckles asked Blaze.

"I'll be here for the weekend, I'm going back on Monday."

"What day is it, Thursday?"

She nodded.

"Do you have any plans?"

"No."

"Maybe we could get together sometime, without the rest of them spying on us."

Blaze laughed. "That sounds nice."

"What's your cell phone number?"

"854-2020"

"Thanks, I'll call you."

"Did you really mean what you said back there?"

"What?"

"At the club. When you were talking to Rouge, and then when you punched that guy."

"Yes, Blaze, every word. Can I tell you something personal?"

"Of course."

"I like you a lot, Blaze. You're a cool girl. I feel like I can talk to you about stuff and it interests both of us. I'm comfortable around you."

Blaze blushed extremely red. "That is very kind of you, Knuckles. Now I will be honest with you that I feel the same way." By now they had reached the cars, before the rest of the group.

"Thank you, for making this Valentine's Day fun, Knuckles. It's the most fun one I've had so far."

"I agree, Blaze. Thanks."

The rest of the group soon came up to the cars. Knuckles was driving home with Tails and Sonic and Blaze was staying with Amy and Cream.

Rouge and Shadow slid into their car. "Later guys!" Rouge called out as they began to drive away.

Chaotix was the next to take off in their black spy van. "See you later guys. Remember don't be strangers. Knuckles, Blaze, I'll call you for our next mission!"

"Sure, Vector" Knuckles said sarcastically and Vector laughed. Then they drove off.

Silver was the next. "I'd better get moving. Great party, Amy and Cream, sorry my girl friend couldn't come."

"That's alright," Amy replied, "but you better bring her around some time soon."

"Will do, Ames! Nice meeting you Blaze!"

"You as well, Silver."

"Later!" Silver then took off, leaving the three couples to depart.

"We should probably be getting home, girls. I still have to clean up from the party." Amy said. "Thank you for such a wonderful night, Sonic."

"Anytime." He winked at her.

"You two through a great party! Thanks for having me." Tails told Amy and Cream.

"Thank you for coming, Tails" Cream replied sweetly.

"Yeah, Ames thanks for the fun night." Knuckles said to Amy.

Amy smiled, knowing what he implied. "You're very welcome, Knuckles. Thank you for helping."

"Come on guys, let's hit the road!" Sonic told his group enthusiastically.

"Sure, bye girls." Knuckles called.

"Farewell, Knuckles." Blaze replied, causing Knuckles to have that warm feeling inside.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Amy called as they drove away. 

* * *

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles got into Sonic's car as they left to drive to their apartments. Knuckles had ended up in the back seat somehow, and Sonic was driving.

"Thanks for giving me a lift, guys."

"No problem, Knux." Sonic replied as he turned. "Why didn't you drive your car to Amy's anyways?"

"I helped Amy set up for the party. I walked from my apartment to do her shopping and then she gave me a ride to her place."  
Sonic laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"You shopping!"

Knuckles growled at Sonic but realized himself that the thought of him doing the errands for Amy, was a bit funny. 

* * *

Where Knuckles had ended up in the backseat, Blaze was sitting in the passenger seat in Amy's car.

"Okay, so seriously this was the best Valentine's Day ever! Sonic was amazing as always and was so awesome today." Amy exclaimed as she drove.

Cream giggled. "It was fun, Tails is so sweet."

"That jewelry box he gave you was adorable."

"I can't wait to show it to Cheese tomorrow, to bad he was asleep during the party."

"You know the chao. He can barely stay awake for two hours without a nap." Right when Amy finished her sentence, Blaze's message tone went off. Blaze pulled out her phone and looked at the message and smiled. Amy looked over to her, and let her curiosity get the best of her. "Who is it, Blaze?"

"Nobody, Amy."

"Well, it's definitely somebody! Tell us."

"Why do you want to know?" Blaze asked as she began to reply to the message.

"Is it Knuckles?"

"No." Blaze was not a very good liar.

"IT IS!" Amy yelled, with much excitement. "What did he say?"

"Nothing, Amy"

"Oh stop that." Amy had come to a red light and pulled the phone out of Blaze's hand. She read a loud, "Hey, Blaze. Just checking if this is the right number you gave me." Amy looked at Blaze. "You gave him your number? I just assumed he got it from Sonic."

"Yes, I gave it to him."

"Oh my goodness, you must really like him!" By now Blaze had pulled the phone back and Amy was driving again.

"Amy, we just met." Blaze sent him a message back confirming that this was indeed her number, and then she saved his number.

"I saw you two out on the dance floor slow dancing and now he has your number. Are you two going to go out again?"

"I don't know, maybe." The message tone sent off again. Blaze opened the message.

"Well, what does it say?" Amy asked.

"Amy-"

"Please, Blaze. Please tell us." Cream said sweetly and politely. Blaze really didn't have a choice but to answer to such a voice.

Blaze read. "Great. I didn't think you would give me a false number. If you're free tomorrow maybe we could have lunch?"

Amy and Cream both squealed with delight. 

* * *

**And here's Chapter 2.**  
 **As a Disclaimer of some sorts: I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY just to make that clearn.**

 **Moving on to more pleasant news, this story got more reviews, favs and follows that I expected from a first chapter. I love that this story is accepted and I know Yelta would be proud.**

 **Thank you for reading, remember to leave your thoughts.**

 **Have a wonderful day.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

* * *

Knuckles' had had one of the strangest dreams he had had in a while. Amy set him up with a girl for his annual blind date but this time the girl was actually interesting and not a total waste of his time! He had given her this ring and she had given him this knife. Yeah right, that TOTALLY happens on a blind date. If a girl he had just met gave him a dagger, Knuckles would have been seriously concerned. Then came the really strange part, he asked her if she would want to go with him to a club after Amy's party. They ended up dancing together, slow dancing. Right before he left he asked her out to lunch the next day. No way Knuckles would ever do any of those things with a girl, no matter how awesome she was.

Knuckles laughed aloud at his dream, he couldn't wait to tell Amy just to tease her. His cell phone was on the nightstand next to him. He probably should check the time and his messages. First he checked the time, 7:00 AM exactly. Then he checked his messages. No new ones but there was a couple old ones from a girl named Blaze talking about getting together with him for lunch today.

Wait a minute, Knuckles thought, holy crap that actually happened? Had he, Knuckles the Echidna, actually done all of those things with a girl he had just met? The world must have ended while he was asleep too! Then he looked up and saw the dagger from the "dream" on the nightstand. The dagger he thought he would have found strange if a girl had given him, but in reality it was the dagger he found so interesting and kind.

Knuckles dialed a phone number; he had to prove to himself that this was not real.

"Why in speeds sake are you calling me this early in the morning, Knucklehead?" A sleepy voice of Sonic the Hedgehog asked over the phone.

"Sonic, what's going on!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did I really go out with a girl Amy set me up with last night and enjoy it?

"Yup."

"So I wasn't dreaming?"

"Nope."

"What?"

Sonic laughed. "Looks like you got yourself a stalker, Knuckles!"

Knuckles immediately was angry at Sonic for making fun of Blaze. All of last night was coming back to him more clearly now. "She is not a stalker, you idiot and don't you dare talk about her like that!"

"Are you on drugs or something? You're acting really weird."

Knuckles took a deep breath. Finally he remembered why he had went out with Blaze and wanted to see her again. He had had so much fun with her, but it was a type of fun he had never felt before. Knuckles genuinely liked her. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit off this morning, It's probably that drink I had at the bar last night."

"That's nice Knuckles. Now I'm going back to bed. BYE!" Sonic then abruptly hung up on Knuckles, leaving him having to get ready for work. 

* * *

Blaze didn't have the problem where she thought she was dreaming. Amy had almost beaten her to death with a pillow she was so excited. As far as Blaze knew you couldn't feel pain in a dream.

"Oh no! What are you going to wear?" Amy was still going crazy about this? Blaze was slightly amused.

"I was just going to wear my guardian's coat-"

"You can't wear that!" Amy looked horrified by Blaze's statement.

"Why not? He's a guardian too."

"Because, you're still trying to reel him in."

Blaze shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

Amy laughed. "You are so clueless about this. What I mean is you're still trying to get Knuckles to be permanently interested in you."

"I'm just going out to lunch with him Amy, not getting married to him. Also, I doubt Knuckles is that superficial. If he really wants to make this a permanent thing, I really don't think what I wear to lunch matters."

"It certainly helps. Even Knuckles, who is one of the least superficial guys I know, cares a little about what's out on the outside."

"Don't you have to go to work?" Amy worked two jobs actually. Her main job, and the one she was going to now, was a buyer for one of the large fashion company's with its headquarters in the city. The other thing she did was work as a floor salesman at Tail's stop, with Sonic.

"No, not for an hour. Oh, I have the perfect outfit."

"Amy, we're not the same size."

"This is too hippy for me, it will fit you perfectly." Amy went into her bedroom and then walked out with a dark purple skirt.

"Amy, I-"

"And, wait a minute." Amy then walked into the room Blaze was staying in and then walked out of Blaze's room without anything. "God, you brought like no clothes!"

Blaze rolled her eyes. "You should see all the dresses my father had made for me at home. I never wear them."

"Are you serious? Why not!"

"Amy, I dress for practicality."

"Then be practical about this! Hang on, I think I have something that will fit you." Amy disappeared back into her own bedroom. Blazes heard the shuffling of hangers, clothes falling and being rejected and Amy making random noises. Finally she heard an 'Ah-ha' and Amy returned into the kitchen. "This is perfect!" Amy held up a white swoop-neck blouse with a black strip that ran right below the breast line. "Now try this on. Oh and your hair…leave it down, please."

"Fine." Blaze disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Amy alone in the kitchen. Then the phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered cheerfully.

"Amy, it's Sonic."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Um, is anything strange going on with Blaze?"

"Other than her usual stubbornness and unwillingness to dress nice-"

"I heard that!" Blaze yelled from the other room.

"You were meant to!" Amy yelled back. Then she returned to her phone conversation with Sonic. "She's fine, why?"

"Knuckles called me this morning and is acting all weird. Something how he thought last night was just a crazy dream and then he got all defensive about Blaze. I thought maybe it was that drink he had."

"Blaze is fine. I certainly don't think that she drugged him. Hang on a second." Amy yelled to Blaze, "Did you drug Knuckles last night?"

"What? NO! Why are you asking me that? What are you up to?"

Amy went back to her conversation with Sonic. "That's a no with the drugging thing."

"Okay, then he's probably a little hung over."

"Or in shock that he actually liked a girl."

Sonic laughed. "That's got to be it, later Amy!" Sonic then hung up.

Amy put the phone down and shook her head. "Why does he always hang up without letting me say goodbye?" Amy spoke aloud to herself. Then Blaze walked into the kitchen. "You. Look. Amazing! Ooh, I'm just so excited for you and him, and that my plan worked."

Blaze gave her a skeptical but amused face. "Where's Cream and Cheese?"

"In the garden. I'm dropping her off at the workshop for work today. The second car is in the garage, here are the keys. Where are you two going?"

"No clue. He told me to meet him at his apartment."

"Wow, he is seriously asking you over to his place on your second date? He moves really fast."

"Amy-"

"I get it, the word date and anything about love makes you uncomfortable." Amy laughed. "Did he at least give you the address?"

"Yes."

"Good. Oh look at the time, we should get moving." Amy then decided to yell then, right next to Blaze's ear. "Cream, come on, lets go!" The rabbit came bounding into the room moments later, with the chao not far behind.

"Good morning, Blaze."

"Good morning, Cream. Is Cheese coming to work with you today?"

"Chao!" The Chao chirped.

"That's a yes!" Amy said with a laugh. "Come on, Cream, we better get going. Make yourself look nice, Blaze."

"Bye Blaze! Good luck!" Cream said cheerfully as she, Amy and Cheese left the small house. Blaze was left alone and a couple hours to kill until her date at noon. 

* * *

Recreational boxing was Knuckles' favorite class to teach. Today he was teaching the advanced class, which he only had one of a week. The amount of people that were signed up for a class on Friday morning at 8:00 was surprising.

"Come on guys move, move! Watch your foot work, don't be sloppy!" Knuckles yelled over the music and the sound of fists beating punching bags. "One more minute, pick up the pace!" At the sound of his voice everyone moved quicker. "Five, four, three, two, one! Alright, loosen up! Grab a partner for a face off." The advanced boxers spent the last half hour of their class actually boxing. They didn't use hard gloves and if anyone got hurt, Knuckles was the guardian after all. He used the small sliver of the Master Emerald he always kept with him to fix anyone up. The rest of the Master Emerald was still back at Angel Island, his birthplace and true home.

"Okay, how many pairs do we have? Six, good. Give me good clean fights. Who first?" The first set came up and into the ring. "You knows the rules, ready, set, fight!" The two guys went at it and a couple of minutes later, the winner was declared. The same thing went for the other five groups, but there was still some time left. "Nice fights today, now who feels ready to fight me?"

"I will." The best boxer in Knuckles' class said. He was a squirrel, and a couple of years older than Knuckles.

"Good." Knuckles took off his spiked gloves and exchanged them for the same pair of gloves his opponent was using. "You!" Knuckles pointed to one of his students. "Ref."

The ref jumped up onto the ring and said. "Ready, Set, Fight!" It began. Knuckles knew that he could easily beat his opponent, so he waited for him to take the first punch. The squirrel did, and Knuckles dodged it easily. The squirrel tried an up-cut but again Knuckles dodged it. The third time, Knuckles dodged it again and decided to fight back. He punched the guy and sent him to the ground.

The ref began the count down; the squirrel did not get up. "He's down!" The ref yelled.

Knuckles helped the opponent up and gave him a quick heal. "Nice fight. Against most people you would have won."

"Thanks, Knuckles."

Knuckles looked to his class. "Good job today, guys. We will meet again next week at this time." The class had ended and everyone left, except for the squirrel he had just fought.

"Hey, Knuckles. I have a question."

"What's up?"

"I watch a lot of boxing and I know of lot of boxers. You're the best. Have you ever thought of going pro?"

"Not really. I'm part of the Sonic Team and a guardian. I never know when I am going to have to leave unexpectedly or be needed."

"With all honesty, I really don't think that will matter. If you couldn't make a match, it would be because you were saving the world."

"I'm not sure-"

"Here, at least take this. It's my friend's card. If he feels you're up to this than you'll do great." Knuckles took the card from the squirrel.

"Thank you. Oh, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Where should I take a girl to lunch?"

"How long have you known her?"

"Less than twenty-four hours. My friend set us up on a blind date last night."

"Try Le Petit Café down on Reef St."

"Thanks."

"So this girl, is she cute?"

"She's cute, I guess." Knuckles said uncomfortably. "She's actually a princess from another dimension."

"What? No way." The squirrel didn't believe Knuckles, and Knuckles didn't blame him.

"Yeah, she is. Her name is Blaze. She's not a total idiot and is interesting. She cares about more than how her hair looks."

The squirrel laughed. "Sounds like she's perfect for you. I gotta get going. Good luck, Knuckles and give that whole pro thing a serious thought."

"I will, thank you. See you next week." Knuckles had to prepare for his next hour training session. 

* * *

Knuckles left work at ten-thirty, because of his date and he didn't have any classes or trainings scheduled. He didn't have anything else for today and it was weird. Usually on Fridays he was making up for all the trainings that people had to reschedule throughout the week.

He showered up and got dressed for his date. Hopefully Blaze would be able to find her way to his apartment. Then he figured he should straighten up around the place. He didn't really know if she would want to come up or not. Hopefully Amy gave her a couple of tips on this sort of thing. He had no idea what he was doing. All of his getting ready went by really fast and before Knuckles knew it, it was noon. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but when someone buzzed up to his apartment, it made him jump a little. People didn't often visit him.

"Hello?" Knuckles asked into the buzzer.

"Hello, Knuckles, its Blaze."

"Alright, I'll be down in a moment." Knuckles decided that it was best that Blaze not come up to his place just yet. He had a feeling Amy would agree with him. Wait a minute, he thought, when did I start listening and wanting to agree with Amy? Oh yeah, when I met an okay girl. He shook his head and walked out of the door.

Knuckles walked out of the elevator and into the lobby of his apartment building. Immediately he caught sight of Blaze. To him she stood out of a crowd, and in an apartment building as busy and big as Knuckles there always was a crowd.

"Hey Blaze. How have you been?"

"Hello. Since yesterday, I've been good, apart from Amy's constant fashion policing."

Knuckles laughed at her comment. "I feel bad for you having to stay with her. She must have been going insane about getting you dressed for this afternoon."

It was Blaze's turn to laugh. "You know her quite well."

"Do you mind walking to the restaurant? Its not too far."

"Walking sounds wonderful." 

* * *

The restaurant was only two blocks away. Their table was next to a window facing the street where people passed by on their way about the city. Knuckles remembered that he was supposed to pull out her chair or something like that. He went to do it before they sat down and she smiled.

"Thank you, Knuckles."

"No problem." He said as they sat down. "Technically aren't you a princess and therefore there's a whole list of little formalities?"

She laughed. "Yes, I try to avoid them when I can. I might be a princess and a girl but I'm not made of glass."

"I could see how that would get annoying. Courtesy and all is good, but those little nit-picky rules…"

"They really get on my nerves. I go out and fight crazy villains and robots but I'm not supposed to comb my own hair or make my own bed?"

"You're seriously not supposed to do those things? Why not? They're so simple."

"I stopped caring what I'm supposed to do. Now I've taken on the guardian set of rules rather than the princess ones. They conflicted too much and a like the guardian ones better. I have much more freedom and self-sufficiency under them."

The waitress who asked them what they wanted to drink interrupted their conversation.

"I'll have a water with a lemon and a cup of mint tea, please." Blaze asked.

The waitress turned to Knuckles. "Are for you sir?"

"Water, no lemon and a cup of Black Chai tea."

"Alright, I'll be out with that in a few minutes." The waitress walked away.

"You drink tea too?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, I don't drink much coffee." Knuckles answered. "All of the guys, except for Tails, used to tease the crap out of me about it. Now that I think about it, Rouge used to tease me too."

"Used to tease you?" She questioned skeptically.

"Let's just say that instead of giving them coffee once, I gave them all cups of espresso. Most of them ended up drinking more then one cup of espresso. They couldn't sleep for about two days and after they finally did fall asleep they woke up with a killer headache."

"I see."

The waitress came over with their drinks. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes, I'll have a Avocado wrap, please." Blaze requested.

"I'll have the pasta with white sauce."

"Alright, I'll have that out in a bit." The waitress walked away again.

"Amy asked me the strangest question this morning."

"I'm not surprised by that." Knuckles remarked.

"She asked me if I drugged you last night."

"What? Why would she ask you that?"

"I have no idea."

"Wait, did she get a phone call from Sonic?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"He asked me this morning if I was on drugs."

"Why?"

"I called him this morning because I didn't know if last night actually happened, because, well, that whole situation was a little uncharacteristic for me. Then I got mad at him for calling you a stalker. It was early, I was a little out of it and I was confused."

Blaze gave a slight laugh. "Okay, so I didn't drug you and you are not on drugs?"

"No, of course not."

"Good, that's cleared up."

"Aren't those the questions you're supposed to ask on a first…date?" He said the word date with hesitation. Like Blaze, Knuckles felt uncomfortable about love conversations and the word date.

"I don't really know." She answered. "Should we call this a date?" Now they were both a little bit hesitant.

"I guess it depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On how we feel about each other."

Knuckles left Blaze a little speechless. They had admitted to each other that they liked each other a lot so that meant… "We both said last night that we like each other."

"I stand by what I said. I wouldn't say if I didn't mean it."

Blaze blushed a little. Yes, she liked him. He was the only guy who could make her smile, laugh, and most certainly blush, like she had been doing. "I feel the same way."

"So, I guess this is a date."

The waitress came at a good time. The waitress gave them their food and the conversation lightened as they ate. Neither Knuckles and Blaze were feeling people but they had to face them now. At least they could face them together. 

* * *

Shadow was on his lunch break as well. He was walking down Reef Street, like he did everyday. The shop windows were bright and colorful, neither of which Shadow was. That's when something in a café window across the street caught his eye. A bright red echidna was sitting across the table from a purple cat. He smirked, Sonic had lost the bet. 

* * *

Sonic was working in Tails shop, just like he did everyday. Technically most of his income was from the city; he was the great protector of good and all of that. Things were pretty quiet today, which was weird. It was never quiet in Tail's store. That's when his phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered.

"You lost the bet." A dark voice said over the phone.

"I didn't so far, Shadow."

"I'm standing outside of a café on Reef Street and they're inside having lunch together."

"No way!" Sonic didn't belief Knuckles would actually go out with her on his own free will.

"See for yourself, Amy should be getting a photo text right about now."

As if on cue Amy chimed in. "Oh look, Sonic! Isn't this adorable? Shadow took a picture of Knuckles and Blaze in a café window. I told her that outfit would like good for their date." Sonic looked at Amy's phone and saw to his disbelief that he had truly lost. Sonic hung up on Shadow and called a different number. 

* * *

"You wouldn't believe what I got offered at work today." Knuckles and Blaze were finishing up their meal, unaware of what was going on.

"Try me."

He smiled. "I was offered to become a professional boxer."

"Really?"

"Friend of one of the people who take my advanced boxing class gets people involved in that sort of thing."

"Are you going to do it?"

"I don't know. I already work a lot and I need to be able to leave without any notice."

"You should still follow up with it. Opportunities like that do not come up often. You could at least use it as a connection sometime in the future."

"I never thought of it that way. Good point." Then Knuckles phone rang. He noticed that it was Sonic. The problem with Sonic calling him was that Knuckles never knew if it was an emergency or Sonic being an idiot. "I know its rude to take this, but it's Sonic and it could be important."

"Don't worry about it, I have the saving the planet interruption a lot too."

Knuckles answered the phone. "What?"

"You're on a date with her! Are you just doing this so I'll lose?" Sonic's voice yelled over the receiver.

"Yes and then no. How do you know that I'm on a date with her?"

"Shadow told me."

"How does Shadow know?"

"He's standing outside the window, across the street taking pictures of you."

"What?" Knuckles put the phone down on the table. "Excuse me, Blaze. I have to go deal with a nosy little loser."

"What are you talking about?" She shook her head.

"Shadow's across the street taking pictures of us. We're being spied on. Now Sonic's being a selfish moron because he thinks I'm that much of a jerk that I would go on a date with you just to screw him over in this bet."

"What friends we have…"

"First, I have to go take care of Shadow. I'll be right back." Blaze watched as Knuckles walked out across the street and up to Shadow. Knuckles began to yell at him and Shadow looked as amused as he ever looked. Clearly, Knuckles was only getting angrier and more in his face. Shadow began to talk to Knuckles, but the echidna didn't seem to take it too well. Knuckles shoved Shadow and kept yelling at him, Blaze was shocked that she couldn't hear him in the café. That's when she decided to do a little payback herself.

She picked up Knuckles phone; Sonic was still on the line. "Sonic?"

"Oh, hi Blaze."

"Is Amy there?"

"Yeah."

"Could you please give the phone to her for me."

"Sure thing."

"Thanks." She waited while he handed the phone over to Amy.

"Hey, Blaze. What's up?" A cheery voice answered. It was Amy.

"I was just calling to tell you that Sonic and a couple of the other guys took a bet on how long Knuckled and I would last. He said that Knuckles wouldn't even ask me out after the night you set us up for."

"Oh really?"

"That's not even the worst part. Now he thinks Knuckles is only going out with me so Sonic loses the bet."

"What? Don't you worry, Blaze! Knuckles would never do that. I'll take care of Sonic for you, just have fun on your date."

"Thank you Amy. Good bye."

"Bye, Blaze!" 

* * *

"What did you do, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Amy yelled asked Tails' store. "Seriously? You bet that they wouldn't go out again? That's an insult to them and my matchmaking skills."

"Well he's never gone out with a girl a second time before!"

"Oh, and you really think that Knuckles would ask this girl out again just to make YOU lose! I'm going to kill you!"

"Look at the time. Tails, I'm going on my lunch break!"

Amy pulled out her Piko Piko hammer. "Oh no, you're not getting off that easy!" 

* * *

Meanwhile…

"What the hell, Shadow!" Knuckles yelled.

"You are such a drama queen."

"Stop invading my privacy!" Knuckles punched Shadow in the gut.

"Alright, fine. I deserved that."

"Damn right, you deserved that."

"I'm winning now, right?"

"What? NO! Shut up about the stupid bet!"

"So you're going to go out with her again?"

"I don't know. She probably thinks I'm crazy now with all of you making such a giant fuss over this and NOT LEAVING US ALONE!"

"Okay. I get the point. Can I go now? I'm missing my lunch and Rouge wanted me to bring her back something."

Knuckles was still furious at Shadow but he decided it would be best to calm down. He did have a date waiting. "Get out of here, then. Don't you dare ever do that again."

"Fine. I'll just be more careful when I do."

"Shadow!" Knuckles bellowed but Shadow had already taken off running. 

* * *

Blaze was patiently sitting and waiting for Knuckles when he came back. She had been watching almost the entire thing with Shadow.

Did he really just yell at Shadow and punch him like that because he was meddling in our business, because he wouldn't leave us alone? Blaze thought to herself them she caught herself thinking, It's so sweet of him to want to be alone and spend time with me. Blaze was well aware that most girls when their dates leave in the middle of a date to go argue with someone in the street are not happy and most certainly do not find him being sweet by doing it. The other thing Blaze knew was that she wasn't like most girls. There were two chief reasons that she was thinking about right now. She found a guy endearing for arguing and punching people and never really thought of males her age as sweet or endearing.

She stopped paying attention to her thoughts when she noticed that he was coming back into the café.

"Sorry about that." He said as he sat down. "I couldn't let Shadow get away that. It irritates me when people won't mind their own business and leave me alone."

"Don't worry about it, I feel the same way. If you didn't go out there and tell him to mind his own business, I was going to."

Knuckles smiled. "Good to hear. Now all I have to do is take care of Sonic."

"You won't need to worry about him, he's being taken care of."

Knuckles gave a confused look.

"When you left, you were still on the phone with Sonic. I had him hand the phone over to Amy, and told her what he did. Needless to say, she's not happy with him."

"Nice approach, Amy can put Sonic through way more misery then I can."

"How so?"

"She'll yell at him, and take her hammer to him a couple of time. Then she'll cool down and turn it around so it seems that he made her feel terrible. He'll feel guilty, and trust me Sonic does not feel guilt that easily. She'll end up getting something she wants from him so he won't feel so bad."

Blaze smiled at his explanation. That would do quite nicely for payback. She was about say something when the waitress returned.

"Anything else?"

"Just the check." The waitress handed the check to Knuckles and walked away. Knuckles pulled out his wallet.

"Let me pay half." Blaze asked.

"No, Blaze, I got it covered. Amy would also kill me if I let you pay."

"How about I tip then?"

"Fine, that works." They both had somewhat gotten their way. "Would you like to take a walk in the park, that is if you have no where to go?" Knuckles asked shyly.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Blaze's reply was equally as shy. She thought that the shyness would have gone away by now… 

* * *

The park was not far from the café and even though it was not yet spring, people were still outside enjoying the park. Knuckles and Blaze were just walking and chatting down on the paths beneath the bare trees.

"The snow reminds me of my aunt and uncle's city." Blaze remarked.

"Why?"

"For one thing, it doesn't snow where I live. The capital city of my kingdom is located in the south. My Aunt and Uncle are the Duke and Lady of a northern province. The entire city they live in is made of ice."

"Its really all made of ice?"

Blaze nodded. "I used to visit there all the time when I was little. Where did you grow up, here?"

"No, I lived on a floating tropical island called Angel Island. Other than me, it was uninhabited. I came to this city a couple of years after Sonic found me there and Eggman attacked my home. It seemed like a good choice to move. Everyone was here and Eggman kept attacking. They needed to be able to reach me faster and Angel Island wasn't working at that time. I go back as often as I can, that's where the Master Emerald is after all."

"How do you protect the Master Emerald from so far away?"

"I have most of the power with me." Knuckles pulled a necklace out of his shirt. On it there was a small shard of a green gem. "This is a fragment I broke off and put most of the power in. I left enough power in the actual Master Emerald to keep the island floating and alive. The amount of power in here is extremely concentrated. There's still enough in here that I can transform into my super form. Where are your Emeralds?" Knuckles asked.

"I can conjure them. I make them so they are not always physically visible, most guardians of the Sol Emeralds have done that."

"That must be nice. They must be really hard to steal."

"You would think that, but the way they have most often been taken from me is someone tortures me to the point where I can no longer hid them and then they take them. The other thing is I usually have to let them be physical when I'm sleeping." She explained then asked. "Isn't the Master Emerald giant? How does that get stolen?"

"Giant robots, its been shattered a couple of times, and Rouge."

"Rouge?" Blaze looked at Knuckles in a confused way. "I thought she was your ally?"

"She is but she hasn't always been, just like Sonic and I weren't allies for a while. Rouge has a love of priceless gems and the Master Emerald used to be high on her list. She ended up on our team mostly because I saved her life when Eggman tried to kill her about three and a half years ago. The other real reasons why she stopped was she fell in love with Shadow and she started working as an agent and loved her job. If they found out that she was trying to steal the Master Emerald, they would kick her out for sure."

"A lot of stuff has happened between all of you guys it seems."

"I've known Sonic since I was fifteen, Blaze, and I'm nineteen now. Amy's known him since she was twelve and she's almost seventeen. Tails and Sonic go way back. Team Chaotix and I have been friends for a while too. Silver came around about a year and a half ago and for the last two years Shadow and Rouge have been getting along with all of us. We've all known each other so long that a lot of good and bad have happened. Which brings me to two other questions. I now this is rude but how old are you and how did you meet Sonic?"

"I am seventeen. I'll be turning eighteen this summer." Blaze answered his first question, then proceeded to answer his second. "I met Sonic about two years ago when I was dumped in this world by your Eggman. The Eggman from my world, Nega, allied with your Eggman and sought to take over both dimensions. Sonic and I ended up teaming together to defeat the two of them. We've fought together a couple of times since then. The one who I really met of your group the first time I came her was Cream. She showed me around your world and helped me retrieve the Sol Emeralds."

"Sounds like Cream, she loves to help and still doesn't have a fear of strangers."

"No, she isn't shy at all. I admire her for that."

"Don't tell anyone this, but I do to." Blaze smiled at Knuckles as they opened up to each other. Who would have guessed that they would have learned so much meaningful information about each other on their first real date?

 **Yelta's A/N- I know that some of the stuff in that chapter does not match the actual game storyline but in the game story lines Knuckles and Rouge like each other. I don't get that at all. I also am aware that if you are from the States, like me, some of the characters are doing things they are a little to young to be doing. I don't think that's a huge problem.**

 **The thing that hung me up with this chapter once I got it going was what they were going to eat. I wasn't sure if they should eat other animals because I don't really know what echidnas eat and my cat eats pretty much anything. Funny story, I have a Boston Terrier and he once ate styroform and didn't get sick! How does that even work?**

 **Thanks for reading, stay tuned and how about you throw a review or two my way?**

* * *

 **Not too much to add here, stay tuned for more.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Yelta's Author Note: Okay this chapter ended up being longer... I don't know how that happened.**

 **Warning- There is a minor amount of swearing in this chapter. Most people probably won't even think of them as really bad words.**

Chapter 4

* * *

It was Saturday, the last day Blaze had to spend in this world. Tomorrow she would step back through the portal Tails had invented and return home. She knew her parents would ask her a thousand questions about her blind date, and she was not looking forward to that. Everywhere she went it seemed people were asking her questions she didn't want to answer, except for Knuckles. When he asked her questions her put things so matter of fact that she didn't mind answering.

"Sonic feels really guilty about how selfishness he was yesterday." Amy was sitting across the table in the kitchen from Blaze, scrutinizing her outfit. Blaze had pulled her hair back and was wearing her typical coat. Amy was less then pleased. "Couldn't you at least leave your hair down?"

"Why would I, Amy?" Blaze replied. "Thank you for taking care of Sonic for Knuckles and me." Amy still had no idea that Knuckles to Blaze had explained how Amy dealt with Sonic and Blaze wasn't planning on telling her that she knew about it.

"Oh, it was no problem. Sonic agreed to take me out to dinner. He felt it would be a good way to repay his debt." Blaze smirked at Amy's comment, luckily Amy didn't notice. "Which I never did get to hear the juicy details of your date."

"Amy-"

"CREAM, Blaze is going to tell us about her date!" Amy yelled.

Cream came running into the room with Cheese. "Really? How did it go, Blaze?"

Blaze was stuck; the little rabbit was sitting across the table staring at her with those big eyes. She couldn't say no to Cream. "It went well, I guess."

"That's the best you could come up with? Come on, Blaze." Amy had no intensions on letting Blaze skimp on details.

Blaze rolled her eyes. "We went out to eat. We talked. Knuckles yelled at Shadow. We went for a walk, and talked some more. We walked back to his place and I drove home."

Amy still gave her a that's-not-going-to-make-me-stop-pestering-you-look. "And…what did you talk about."

"The universe."

"BLAZE!"  
"Fine. We talked about where we grew up and guardian things. Then we talked about how ridiculous some rules and formalities are. I remember him mentioning tea and drugs. Finally we talked about how long you guys have known each other and how we like to be left alone and dislike nosy people." Blaze had purposely left out a couple things, particularly the part about how they like each other.

"That was a really random list of things." Amy remarked.

"It sounds like the two of you have a lot in common." Blaze was a little bit thrown by what Cream said. It made her a little uncomfortable.

"I suppose." Blaze answered with hesitation.

Oh, she likes him. Amy thought. She likes him a lot, maybe even more than likes him. The question is does he like her as much? 

* * *

Knuckles had spent his morning teaching classes, he ended up teaching four from eight to twelve. When afternoon came he went to Tails' shop. Knuckles balanced the books and did a lot of the finances for Tails. He wasn't as good at it as Tails was but the shop had become busy and Tails was needed to create and fix machines.

It was twelve thirty when Knuckles walked in. Sonic was selling something to someone, as were Cream and Amy. Tails was standing at one of the desks with a costumer fixing something.

"Hey, Knux! What's up?" Sonic called from across the room.

"Nothing much." Knuckles answered. "Everything is where it normally is, Tails?"

"Yeah, Knuckles." Knuckles went, got what he needed, sat at one of the desks, and got to work. It was repetitive work but he found it relaxing.

"Excuse me, can you help me?" Knuckles looked up and saw a female gray rabbit looking at him. All the others were already with consumers. Today was a really busy day.

"Sure, what do you need?" He said bluntly.

"I don't understand why this isn't working." The rabbit handed him what looked like a small vacuum cleaner.

"What's wrong with it?'

"Its has no suction."

He gave it a look over. Knuckles wasn't technologically gifted but he had a pretty good idea what was wrong with it. "I think that its got something stuck in it. Hang on a second." He stood up and walked over to Tails' desk. "Tails, I think I have to take a vacuum apart. Do you have any extra tools?"

Tails looked up from his project. "Yeah, here. Can you do it?"

"I may not be techno-wiz but I'm pretty sure I can fix a vacuum."

"Okay. Here you go." Knuckles took the tools and walked back over to the vacuum. He quickly took the thing apart, pulled out the clog and started putting it back together.

"Knuckles? What are you doing here?" Knuckles looked up to find Blaze walking into the shop.

"Oh hi, Blaze. I do some finance stuff for Tails on Saturdays and do this kind of thing when it's busy. What are you doing here?"

"I had nothing to do and Amy told me that it would be busy today so I came to help out."

"Didn't I tell you that, Knuckles?" Amy called from across the room. "I sent her to lunch."

Knuckles rolled his eyes at Amy. "Well, Blaze. Its nice to see you."

"I'll let you get back to the vacuum cleaner." Blaze said as she too went to help a customer. Knuckles went back to finishing the vacuum cleaner.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, how much do I owe you?"

"I believe that would be a fifty dollar repair, ma'am." The rabbit paid Knuckles and left. He sat back down and continued the finances. 

* * *

Amy was very good at selling things to people, probably because she was the top buyer in her other job and knew what would convince her to buy something. The other thing Amy was good at was multitasking. While she was selling various machines she was also watching Knuckles and Blaze, but mostly Knuckles. She knew Blaze liked him. Amy knew that he liked her a bit, however was it to the same extent that Blaze liked him? She wasn't sure and observing him was the only way to find out, and that was the real reason she had asked Blaze to help out at the store today.

When Blaze had first walked in, they both were surprised to see each other. Amy had been expecting that. Knuckles and her had said hello and Amy noticed that he was exhibiting some of his nervous habits that he had around females. He fidgeted with whatever was near him, in this case the vacuum, just as he always did around girls. However, he did look Blaze in the eyes, which was more then he was doing with the rabbit girl. Then, when they went to work, Amy noticed Knuckles occasionally looking up at Blaze. Of course Blaze didn't detect it, she was always extremely focused when she was working. Knuckles was also muttering something to himself, but that was probably just him counting numbers.

Knuckles is acting normal for Knuckles, except for the watching her and looking at her in the eyes. Amy thought. He definitely interested in her but I'm going to have to ask some questions to really find out.

Amy walked over to Tails. "Hey, Tails." She said quietly. "I need to ask Knuckles a couple of questions. Can I have him move some of the big machines out onto the floor?"

"Sure, I actually needed that to be done." Tails replied. "Bring out 302, and 455. That should give you enough time."

"Thanks, Tails, you're awesome." Amy went over to Knuckles. "Knuckles!"

She shocked him, so much that he jumped a little. "Amy, I told you not to do that. What?"

"Tails need some machines moved out from the back. They're really big."

"Fine." Amy and Knuckles walked into the backroom. "Number 302, right there." Amy pointed to the machine and Knuckles walked over to it to pick it up. "So, Knuckles, that squirrel girl was pretty cute."

"Amy, what are you talking about?" Knuckles lifted the giant machine which Amy knew for a fact weighed at least double her weight.

"That girl with vacuum cleaner."

"I really wasn't paying attention to that."

"She was giving you the cute eyes."

"What!" Knuckles was a bit angry. "Amy, she was not."

Amy nodded. "She definitely was. Blaze didn't look too happy with that girl. That would ruin my plans for the two of you, if she got mad just because another girl looked at you."

"AMY! Blaze would not do that, she knows that I don't pay attention to how other girls look at me." Knuckles have yelled.

Oh, how OTHER girls look at him. Excellent choice of words Knuckles, you probably don't even know what you just said.

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you where to put that one." Amy and Knuckles walked out to the showroom floor and he put it down on the floor. "Okay let's get 455." They walked back into the backroom. "She's watching you."

"Amy." Knuckles irritated voice was warning enough to shut up, but Amy didn't care. "Where's 455?"

"Hang on a minute, do you want to see the thing Tails made for Chaotix?"

"Fine."

"Check it out." Amy led him over to a machine with a screen and sets of six ear buds. "These little buds go in your ear. They have a video component too as well as the ability to be gps and map compatible. The videos go up on the screen as well as the optional map with six dots that show the locations of the buds."

"That's awesome. Vector is going to love that, and is going to want me to go on a mission to try that out."

"He wants you and Blaze to do missions last I heard."

"Yes, he does. He thinks we would be a good team."

"Blaze agrees with Vector."

"What?"

" I'm telling you this because I'm your friend. She thinks you'd be a good team but in a different way, if you know what I mean." Amy realized that wasn't a sufficient explanation for Knuckles when he looked a bit confused. "She really, really likes you, as in she wants to seriously date you."

Yes, Knuckles was red, but Amy could see that through his red fur that he was blushing and he was trying not to smile. He started to fidget with his glove and looked away from her. "Amy, that can't be true."

"You know it too, Knuckles, now stop denying it."

Knuckles was left completely speechless. Amy had put that so blunt that there was nowhere for him to go with it.

"You don't need to tell her about our conversation either. Now 455 is the one over there." Amy pointed to the machine, which Knuckles picked up and carried out to the showroom.

Suddenly someone ran into the shop. "Help! Help! Sonic!"

"What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"Eggman's here!"

"Where?"

"Here in the city!"

"I got that, I meant where in the city?"

"Oh, downtown a block away from Starlight!"

"Finally, I wondered when he'd show up again. Alright guys, it's action time!"

"What about the others, should we call them?" Amy asked.

"They're not around. Shadow and Rouge are on a romantic get away, I can only imagine what they are doing. Silver with his girlfriend meeting her family, and Chaotix left on a mission this morning. Now let's go have some fun!" Sonic took off running, and Tails grabbed his emergency weapons belt.

"Amy, come on we'll take The Tornado and meet him!" Tails called as he ran out of the store and Amy followed him.

Knuckles looked over to Cream. "You know the drill, Cream. Stay safe, send out the emergency signal."

"I will, Knuckles, you stay safe as well."

He turned to Blaze. "Looks like you are with me."

"How are we going to get there?"

They were in the middle of a crisis and now his nerves decided to come back. "Well, I can handle that if you…um…hold onto me."

Blaze was a little uncomfortable with his proposition. Cream slid up next to her and whispered in her ear. "Knuckles is a really nice guy, Blaze. Go on, he's trustworthy."

Though she didn't want to, Blaze knew she didn't have a choice. "If it gets us to the fight quick."

Knuckles was slightly hoping that she would say no but was also secretly hopeful that she would say yes. "Okay let's move." They ran across the street to a large building. "Grab on and don't let go." Blaze wrapped her arms around Knuckles, causing him to flinch a little. He climbed the building as fast as he could then jumped on top of it. "From here, we run across the top of the buildings until we find him."

"Let me guess, your Eggman is rather flashy?"

"You got it."

"What are we standing here for, then? There is a fight waiting for us." Blaze said, and Knuckles nodded. They ran across the top of the buildings and jumped over the gaps.

A couple of blocks away from where they thought Eggman was, Knuckles flew across the street. "He's right ahead!" 

* * *

Meanwhile…

"I am Eggman the new ruler of all of you. Your city will be destroyed and all of your pathetic lives ruined unless you meet my demands. I am your new unconditional leader. You are all my slaves. Bow to me and bring out the hedgehog!"

"Hey Eggman! What's up in loser town?" Sonic had run up below where Eggman's fighter plane was hovering.

The fat man looked down at him. "SONIC, so you've come to play ball."

"Great come back, Eggman! I'm getting bored waiting around for you to do something."

"Stupid Hedgehog, meet my newest robot!" Eggman started laughing like a crazy person and threw a cube down in front of Sonic.

"It's a cube."

"Ah-ah-ah Sonic, no its not!" The cube suddenly started expanding and changed into a giant robot, taller then the skyscrapers that surrounded it. "It's fully loaded with missiles, lasers, and-"

"Failure?"

Eggman boiled with anger. "That's it! Get him!" The robot focused on Sonic and a large round of missiles came out of its fist. Sonic took off running away from them.

"Missed me! Woah!" The robot threw a bomb at him, and almost hit him.

"HA! Sonic, getting a bit slow aren't we?" Eggman teased.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" Eggman turned towards the female voice. A plane flew by him, the speaker sitting in the copilot's seat.

"Amy, you little…"

"Later, slow poke!" She yelled as Tails took off towards the robot and shot a round of missiles at the robot.

Eggman was getting really ticked off now. "Release the Eggdroids!" He commanded the robot. The robot obeyed and a dozen smaller cubes fell from it. The cubes became flying robots and started chasing Tails and Amy.

"What are those, Tails?" Amy yelled as they were being chased.

"Droids. They're going to chase us until they shoot us down."

"What? Lure them in and I'll try smashing them out of the air with my hammer."

Sonic watched as the little robots went after Tails and Amy, however he didn't have much time to. The larger robot started firing at him again and Sonic took off running around it. Sonic hated to admit it but the robot had awesome accuracy in its shots. Then a smaller robot flew crushed in front of him. Sonic looked up and saw Amy smashing the littler robots out of the air with her hammer and Tails was trying to throw bombs at the larger robot. Even with all of this happening Sonic still noticed that the missiles were getting closer to him as he ran. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this stalling up for.

Where are Knuckles and Blaze? Sonic thought to himself. That's when the robot took its hand and smashed it into Sonic sending the hedgehog crashing into a wall.

"Ouch, hey what's up with that?" Sonic yelled up to the robot, and then he noticed that it had a giant missile aimed right at him. Oh crap.

That's when Knuckles soared off a building and punched the robot square in what would be its jaw. The robot slid backwards and put away the giant missile. While it was still recovering, Blaze jumped off a building and using fire and her heeled shoe, and did a fan kick right on the opposite side of the robot's jaw that Knuckles had just punched. She landed elegantly in front of the robot.

"Nice, Blaze!" Sonic said as he went zooming past her and used his signature Sonic Spin-Dash at the robot. The mechanical opponent responded by firing three lasers at Knuckles, Sonic and Blaze. Sonic started running around to avoid the lasers, Blaze was doing flips and Knuckles was climbing walls and gliding.

"This accuracy is ridiculous!" Blaze called to the others as they were avoiding the lasers.

"We better start making more moves. We can't keep this up forever." Knuckles responded. The three on the ground knew that they had to start destroying this robot. 

* * *

Eggman was still sitting up in his plane, happy at the progress the robot was making until Knuckles came out of nowhere. The echidna had a tendency to come out of nowhere; Eggman was expecting him to do that. What had Eggman really surprised and angry was Blaze suddenly appearing. She shouldn't even be here! Luckily the robot had Sonic, Blaze and Knuckles all on defense and trying to stay alive.

With those three being taken care of he turned his attention towards Tails, Amy and The Tornado. Eggman was not very pleased when he saw Amy smashing his Eggdroids. On an impulse, Eggman shot a missile at The Tornado and consequently Amy lost her balance and fell. 

* * *

The robot had stopped the lasers and went back to the explosive missiles. Sonic, Blaze and Knuckles were still just playing defense. Blaze happened to look up at the moment Amy fell from the Tornado.

"Sonic, Amy's been hit!" The urgency in Blaze's voice caused Knuckles and Sonic to look up and see Amy. Sonic raced over to meet her before the ground did and, thankfully was successful.

"Got you." Sonic said as he held onto Amy.

"Oh Sonic, I knew you would save me." Amy cutely replied.

"HEADS UP, GUYS!" They heard Knuckles warn. Sonic didn't even bother to put Amy down, but took off running with her as a bomb exploded behind them. He ran up to Blaze and Knuckles and then put Amy down. The robot continued to shoot at them as they spoke and dodged the missiles.

"We need to do something, I'm getting bored with this." Sonic's comment made Knuckles roll his eyes.

"Seriously, you idiot! We're going to get killed if we don't stop this thing!" Knuckles bellowed. "Amy, get your hammer ready. I'm going to launch you at that thing's back. See if you can take out a couple of the missile chambers."

"Do you know how much danger you're putting her in?" Sonic argued.

"I'll be fine, Sonic." Amy replied.

"We'll distract it and buy you some time to get ready." Blaze looked to Sonic and he agreed with her. The group split up. 

* * *

Tails was now alone in The Tornado but as long as Amy was safe, he would be fine. The Eggdroids were still all over him and Tails needed to take care of them so he could help the others. He had a plan.

"Let's hope this works." Tails muttered to himself. He went flying towards a tall concrete building, on a fatal collision course. The Eggdroids followed at full speed. At the very last second Tails pulled up and away from the building. The Eggdroids, on the other hand, were not so lucky and crashing into the wall with a fiery explosion. 

* * *

Blaze shot a giant spiral of fire at the robot, which made the robot really aggravated and aggressive. It started firing at Sonic and Blaze like crazy as they took off running. Right now they just wanted to act as targets, and it was working. The robot had no idea what was going on behind it. Knuckles and Amy were right underneath it and in position to attack. He put his hand under her foot

"Ready Amy?"

"Let's do this. Commence countdown!"

"Amy-"

"Five, Four, Three, Two, One, blast off!" Knuckles forced up with all of his strength and sent Amy flying into the air. She came back down and landed on the robot's back because it was firing at Sonic and Blaze, a whole bunch of its multi-missile guns were up. "HY-YA" She cried as she went crazy and started just smashing the crap out of it. The robot immediately noticed she was there and started swatting at her. Amy knew she couldn't stay long. She could jump and hope that Knuckles would catch her, but she didn't know where he was exactly. Out of nowhere Tails came flying by her.

"Amy, come on, jump!" Tails shouted over the commotion. Amy did and landed in the copilot's seat. The robot started trying to attack the plane and Tails flew off away from the danger. 

* * *

Eggman was pissed and not just a little pissed, really pissed. Amy had taken out a good deal of the missile launchers on the robot and Tails had just destroyed all of the Eggdroids he had released. Somehow Blaze was here and apparently she had been working with Knuckles in the beginning and now she was working with Sonic. If he wanted to win, Eggman would have to split up the group. It was time to show Tails who was the real dominator of the skies, and this time he would not fail.

His target was the little open top Tornado, his large black jet would surely be able to over power it. Amy and tails thought they were flying away from the danger, but they were flying right into his trap. Eggman steered his plane behind theirs and began the chase.

"Take this you little fools!" Eggman said to himself as he locked the target as The Tornado with his missile gun and released a round of fire. The Tornado speed up and swerved to avoid the shots, but Eggman had another trick up his sleeve.

"Tails!" Amy cried as shots surrounded them. "What are we going to do?"

"He's too fast! I can't out run him." Tails yelled.

Amy turned around to look at the on coming plane, and saw the missiles being fired right at their heads. "Tails! Get down!" She and Tails ducked into the seats as missiles fired over them. Tails was still steering from his position.

"One of his shots must have damaged the rear guns! I can't shot at him useless we're facing him."

"We can't do that, he'll kill us!" Amy and Tails both knew the desperation in their situation. "Wait a minute, do you have any of those throwing bombs?"

"Only a few."

"Fly as fast as you can and give them to me!" Tails handed Amy a couple of the bombs. The missiles had stopped being fired at their heads. She quickly turned around and threw one at the jet's front window. It exploded, causing a cloud of smoke to block Eggman's view.

"Curse it!" Eggman muttered to himelf. Then he used the loud speaker from the plane to address Tails and Amy. "Morons! You can't out run me!"

Amy yelled back. "But we can outsmart you!" Then she threw another bomb at Eggman. He returned fire with another round of missiles.

Tails and Amy were forced to duck. That's when Amy and Tails yelled for help. 

* * *

During this Sonic, Blaze and Knuckles had all regrouped on the ground. The robot was missing some of its weapons now but it was still being a pain.

"How many weapons did Eggman put into this thing? Amy took out a ton of them and there's still more!" Knuckles jumped and punched the robot in the leg. Then the robot kicked him and sent him flying backwards. Knuckles pulled himself to a halt before he could hit a wall.

Blaze took his place and slashed at the robot's legs with some fire. The robot proceeded to kick her just like it had Knuckles, except this time Blaze ended up falling on top of Knuckles and knocking him over.

Sonic was laughing. "Amy would love to see you two right now all close and touchy."

"Shut up, Sonic!" Knuckles furiously yelled. "Pay attention!" Blaze got off of him and they both got up. Sonic was running circles around the robot, making it look really dizzy. When he stopped it took a few minutes for the robot to recover.

That's when Sonic heard Tails. "HELP! SONIC!" The three of them looked up to see The Tornado being chased by Eggman. Missiles were all round them and The Tornado was being out ran.

"HELP! SOMEONE!" This time it was Amy's voice that they heard.

Sonic looked to Blaze and Knuckles. "I have to go help them. Eggman will kill them!"

"Go, we can handle things here." Knuckles said urgently.

"Be safe, Sonic. We'll be fine." Blaze added.

Sonic nodded and then started to run.

"Wait! Sonic!" Knuckles called to him. Sonic turned. Knuckles pulled out his piece of the Master Emerald and pulled a full Chaos Emerald out of it. "Here, take this!" Knuckles threw him the Chaos Emerald.

"Thanks, Knuckles!" Sonic said as he ran off.

"I want that back, Sonic. Good Luck!" By now the robot had recovered and Blaze and Knuckles were in for a fight. 

* * *

Sonic had used the Chaos Emeralds many times; he knew that to become airborne he would need to use it. He ran as fast as he could towards Tornado and Eggman's black jet. As he ran, Sonic held the Chaos Emerald in his hand and activated the power. Even though he only had one and could not go into his Super Form, Sonic was still able to use it and a yellow glow emitted from him. His speed increased and he was right behind the black jet.

"Hey Egg-jerk! Cut it out before I get up there and have to smack the crap out of you for almost killing my best friend and my girlfriend." Sonic yelled up to Eggman.

Amy popped her head up. "He called me his girlfriend? AH!" She screamed and ducked as a missile almost hit her head.

Eggman laughed into the jet's loudspeaker. "Come up here then Sonic! In fact, why don't we make this a bit more interesting?" Eggman released a giant mechanical claw from his jet. It was heading right for The Tornado.

"Tails, what is that thing?" Amy cried as she looked up and saw the claw coming at them.

"I can't out run it!" Tails response. The claw reached into The Tornado and grabbed Amy.

She screamed. "SONIC, HELP!" It pulled her back into Eggman's plane.

"Hello, Miss Rose. Nice of you to join me." Eggman said sarcastically.

"Let me go, you stupid, fat, failure, creepy, freak-toid human thingy! When I get my hammer on you…" Amy squirmed as the claw only held her tighter. Then she decided to scream right in Eggman's ear. "SONIC!"

Sonic heard her. "Hold on Amy!" Sonic used the power of the Chaos Emerald and jumped onto the Tornado.

"Welcome aboard, Sonic." Tails greeted him. "How are we going to get Amy back?"

"I'm going to go in there, right through the window. Go all Chaos Power on Eggman, bust out of another window and jump onto The Tornado." Sonic explained. "You can shoot Eggman up while I'm at it."

"Okay, I'm ready when you are."

"Here we go!" Sonic jumped from The Tornado and curled up into a ball. Combined with the speed of the plane coming at him, the Chaos Power drove him straight through the window. It shattered as he came, all around Eggman. Sonic went right over his head and into Amy.

"Hey, Amy." Sonic said. "Hang on a second, I want to destroy some things real quick." Before Amy could say anything, Sonic was bouncing around the inside of the plane. Outside through the window, Amy could see Tail's missiles shooting at the wings of the plane.

"YOU LITTLE BLUE FREAK! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Eggman roared at Sonic.

"Yeah I know. You say that a lot. Weird, I'm still alive. Oh yeah, you suck at winning." Sonic went over and broke the claw that was holding Amy and held her bridal style.

"! YOU'RE A-" Eggman continued to holler a string of bad names as Sonic broke through another window and jumped back to The Tornado.

"Hey, Tails. Can I use one of those firework-bombs?" Sonic asked.

"Sure, here." Tails handed him a couple of the bombs.

"Thanks. Come and get me really quickly when I use this." As they flew over Eggman's jet Sonic dropped onto the front of it.

"Hey, Eggman. I forgot something. Happy Disappointment Day!" Sonic sparked the bombs and quickly through them through the window.

Eggman looked back at the bombs. "Holy-" Then they exploded in a colorful smoky cloud of defeat for him. For Sonic it was a cloud of triumph that he jumped away from and onto The Tornado as it exploded. Amy and Tails cheered. 

* * *

Meanwhile when Sonic left to go save Amy…

Knuckles and Blaze looked up at the giant robot, neither of them had any ideas of a quick way to take it out. The thing started shooting at them… again. Blaze and Knuckles took of running while they planned their next move.

"Any ideas?" Knuckles asked.

"I could go into my Super Form, but I'd rather not. I'll use up my energy too quickly and destroy a lot in the process."

"I think we can leave destruction to this thing. What else you got?"

"We need to find it's central control, a robot's heart basically. If we can crush it the thing should no longer work."

"How will we find that?"

"I personally think it is either on its chest on its back."

Knuckles nodded. "We can use a building as a push-off and go right into his chest. I'll punch, you kick?"  
"Sounds wonderful." The two of them turned towards a building close to the robot. By running full speed at the wall, then jumping and pushing off of it they were able to get the height they needed to reach its metal chest. Knuckles went with his two firsts first and Blaze shoved her heel into it. When they connected the metal creaked inwards and dented. The two of them didn't stop until they lost momentum, then they dropped to the ground. The robot kept going because of the impact for several yards. It stood down in the center of the street, facing Knuckles and Blaze.

"Run!" Knuckles commanded Blaze and they ran towards the mechanical fiend. He went behind her as they kept running. "Is it okay if I throw you at it?" Knuckles knew that now was not the time to be feeling awkward about touching Blaze, but he couldn't really help it.

"That sounds like a good idea." They were close enough. As they ran Knuckles grabbed her waist, causing Blaze to feel a bit alarmed, and blushed. She, too, knew that this was not the time for that. He forced upwards, sending Blaze through the air. She came to the right height and threw fire at the chest of the robot with so much force that it sent her flying backwards. The robot also was pushed backwards in the opposite way. Knuckles kept running towards the robot as Blaze flew backwards over his head. When the robot did come to stop, it fired a laser at advancing Knuckles. After avoiding the laser, Knuckles was close enough that was able to punch upwards with his fist into the robot's chest and sent the robot into the air and crashing back down. It lay on the ground, very much working.

By now Blaze had come to the scene and stood next to Knuckles. "How long until it gets up?" She asked.

"Not long. When it does we can try running up to the sides of it and hitting it from that angle. Use a building as a lift again."

"I will take the right side, you go left. If our timing is right we should hit it at the same time."

The two of them split up and ran around to the sides of the robot. They both pushed off a building at the same time and were on a direct path to the hit. Suddenly the robot turned towards Knuckles and smacked him out of the sky. Knuckles fell to the ground, unable to get up for a moment. Blaze had hit a well-armored spot of the robot and was ineffective. She landed again and immediately knew something was wrong with Knuckles. All Blaze wanted to do was run to him and help him, but first she had to take out this robot. Fire was her best weapon so she threw rounds and rounds of fireballs and waves at the robot, hoping to burn it. The robot returned fire with missiles. They kept fighting until the robot shot a missile at a tall building and rubble collapsed around Blaze. She was momentarily pinned to the ground. Then the robot pulled out the same huge missile it was going to use on Sonic and aimed it right at her. She was doomed.

Knuckles got up and for the first time in all this commotion noticed something in his pants' pocket. He pulled it out. Blaze's dagger? He thought. How did that get in here? He had grabbed it this morning to show Amy at work. Knuckles looked into the reflection of the dagger and saw the robot with the giant missile. Instinctively he knew its target, Blaze. Knuckles become furious, and very protective. Without him even summoning it, the power of the Master Emerald came to him as he ran straight at the back of the robot. Knuckles jumped onto its back with the dagger facing forward and stabbed. He didn't stop stabbing and pushed the dagger deeper and deeper. It cut through the metal of the robot and then a snap rang from the robot. He jumped over its head and in front of the robot, putting himself between it and Blaze. The giant thing was lurching and making strange noises. For all intensive purposes, Knuckles had killed it. It pitched forward and began to fall.

By now Blaze had freed herself from the rubble. She saw Knuckles put himself between the robot and her. It was then that she realized that the huge robot was going to fall and crush Knuckles. As quickly as she could Blaze got up and ran towards Knuckles. She ran at his sideways and slammed her body into his, sending them both flying to safety in the nick of time.

"Thanks." He said. The two of them had landed on the ground, in a position that any other time than this would have been completely inappropriate. When he propped himself up, she was basically laying on his lap with her head on his chest and her hand on top of his.

"Your welcome. Thank you as well."

He looked down to her. "I used you dagger, it was purely chance I had it."

"I knew I made the correct decision giving it to you." They would have gotten up here, if a big explosion didn't cause both of their heads to immediately go to the sky. Eggman's black jet had exploded into fireworks, as the doctor was seen just barely getting away in a tiny escape pod. Sonic, Tails and Amy were flying away in The Tornado, triumphantly. They circled around and landed near Knuckles and Blaze.

"Nice work guys." Knuckles congratulated Amy, Tails and Sonic as they got out of the plane and walked towards him and Blaze.

"What exactly are you two doing?" Sonic asked them with a big grin on his face. Amy had her phone out and snapped a photo and Tails was trying not to giggle. Knuckles and Blaze both remembered the position they had ended up in. Both of them tensed up within a second. She got off of him and they stood up in almost perfect unison.

"I pushed him out of the way when the robot was about to fall on him and we…" Her voice died for a moment, "ended up in a strange position. We were saving each other's lives"

"Were you saving each other from your awkwardness about getting physical?" Sonic's comment made Tails and Amy burst out laughing and made Knuckles really ticked. He went up to Sonic and punched him in the chest.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" Knuckles hollered in his face. "I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU SO BADLY THAT-"

"Hey, hey, chill out Knuckles." Amy intervened. She got close to the two of them but did not physically break them apart. "Why don't we go over to my place for an after fight pizza and a movie? No wait, a Star Wars a-thon!" Amy had been successful in calming Knuckles down, he got out of Sonic's face. Star Wars was something the entire group loved, but only the three that were made first but technically are the last ones in the series. They all hated the newer ones.

"That sounds like a good idea, Amy." Blaze agreed. The others all nodded their heads.

"Okay, I'll take Amy and The Tornado back to the shop and get Cream. The three of us can drive together." Tails suggested.

"I'll run home grab the car so I can take you home, Tails. Oh wait Knuckles, here's your Chaos Emerald." Sonic gave it to him and then took off running toward his apartment. Tails and Amy climbed into The Tornado and flew off.

"I'll drive you over, Blaze." Knuckles stated. He went over and pulled the dagger out of the robot's back.

"How far do you live from here?"

"Not far at all." The two of them walked in the direction of his apartment. 

* * *

Knuckles had left his car keys in his apartment, because he didn't take it to work today, or almost any day. He did keep his house key with him, if he didn't he wouldn't be able to get into his apartment. Part of the reason Knuckles liked living in the city, he could walk almost everywhere. However he did miss the solitude of Angel Island.

"I left my car keys upstairs."

"That is right, you don't use your car to get places."

"You can come up with you want to," Knuckles suggested to Blaze, then quickly added, "because it's cold outside."

"Okay, I'll come up." The two of them went up to the eighth floor were Knuckles' apartment was. He unlocked the door and led her inside. "This is large for an apartment."

"Yeah, two bedroom, one bath. The kitchen is divided by the bar from the living room."

"It is a really nice place and neat. From what I hear, typically single male's apartments are a mess."

Knuckles laughed. "No, I try to keep things organized. I wouldn't go to Silver's apartment if I were you. His place is a disaster area. You would think a guy with psychokinetic abilities would use his powers to straighten up every once and a while."

As Blaze walked into his apartment, she realized she was tracking dirt into his apartment. Had she really gotten that covered in dirt during the fight? She had been covered in rubble. "Sorry, I'm getting your floors all over your dirt."

"Its no big deal." Knuckles also realized that she was covered in dirt. "Now don't take this wrong way, but you can shower here if you want. I can throw your clothes in the wash. If you feel comfortable with that…"

Blaze wasn't exactly comfortable but she was cloaked with dirt and basically the areas of her fur that were normally white, were brown. "Won't we be late to Amy's?"

"Its about four thirty now, I think we'll be fine. Tails has to close up the shop. Cream is probably giving a report on what happened. Amy has to order a pizza, and get everything together for this. Sonic's just going to go be Sonic. It wouldn't surprise me if they all shower too."

"All right, are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I don't think its that big of an issue." He lied, Blaze knew he was lying. She decided not to fight with him about this.

"Okay, thank you."

Knuckles pointed to the door. "Over there. Use whatever you need." She nodded and walked over to the bathroom. She closed the door got undressed and turned on the water.

There was a knock on the door. "Blaze, um, I can wash your clothes for you if you give them to me." Knuckles offered from the other side.

Blaze picked up her clothes. She hid behind the door and opened it. When she held the clothes out, Knuckles took them from her. "Do they need to be washed on anything special?" He asked.

"No, and don't bother drying them. I can do that with fire." She answered as she shut the door again and got in the shower. The first thing she noticed was the large amount of shampoo and conditioner Knuckles had. It was unscented. There was also a lot of body wash. This was really awkward for her, showering in a guy's shower that she had only met about two days ago. Knuckles was a really responsible and respectful guy, and he wouldn't try anything on her. He hadn't offered her to shower because he wanted to look in on her but because he genuinely cared about her. The more Blaze thought about it in the shower, the more she liked Knuckles. I definitely won't be telling Amy about this. 

* * *

Knuckles took Blaze's clothes and through them in his washing machine. He did freak out when he touched her bra, and threw it in there as fast as he could!. After he that taken care of that he cleaned the dirt on the floor. Knuckles then went and grabbed another pair of jeans and a shirt from his dresser and a hanger from his closet. When he took Blaze's clothes out of the washer he hung them on the hanger on the door handle. 

* * *

Blaze had finished her shower and used her fire to dry herself off. Then she remembered she had no clothes. She called to Knuckles from the bathroom. "Knuckles, where did you put my clothes?"

Knuckles realized the irony of a girl asking him this, HIM of all people. What was really weird was the situation that was actually occurring. I'm doing a girl's laundry not…. He didn't want himself to even think about the last part. Then Knuckles yelled back to her, "They're hanging on the door!"

"Thank you." She replied. As she opened the door, Blaze hid behind it and got her clothes. The bathroom mirror showed her reflection when she was done. Her fur had returned to white and her cloak was no longer dingy. She was wearing no make-up and her hair was down and messy, but she didn't care.

"Thank you, Knuckles." Blaze said as she walked out of the bathroom. He jumped a little bit when he heard her voice. Knuckles wasn't used to people, particularly females, being in his apartment.

"No problem. I'm just going to shower real quick and then we can go." Knuckles went to the bathroom and got in the shower. 

* * *

About fifteen minutes later Knuckles and Blaze had left the apartment and were in Knuckles car on the way to Amy's. His car was a white, two seat, pick-up truck, he thought it was more masculine then Sonic's sports car convertible thing. Unlike a lot of people, Knuckles didn't see your car as giving you status; it was supposed to be practical. Knuckles had used it to help Tails move some things because no else they knew had a truck.

After a few minutes of driving, both Blaze and Knuckles noticed that they were silent. Neither of them wanted to start a conversation but they both felt the awkwardness of the silence.

"So, um…" Knuckles voice trailed off. He never was a good conversation started.

"You have a nice apartment." Blaze said. She wasn't confident in that being a good point to start talking. Conversations weren't her strength either.

"Thanks."

"I noticed that you have a lot of shampoo and condition."

"It's the dreadlocks. My hair doesn't grow any other why so I can still wash them normally."

"I never thought of that. You do have a lot of hair for a guy."

"Um…Thank You?"

Blaze smiled. "I'd say thank you is appropriate. People don't have those where I am from."

"Not a lot of people have them around here either." Knuckles told her. "How are we going to explain you not being covered in dirt to Amy?"

"I wasn't going to tell her if she didn't notice."

"Trust me, she'll notice."

"Ah, We'll just have to tell her the truth."

"And then run when she starts freaking out?"

"That's the plan."

"Alright." He turned and pulled into Amy's driveway, behind a sports car. Sonic had just pulled in before them and was carrying the pizza.

"Hey I-the-strongest-thing-alive-guy! Come carry this!" Sonic yelled as he saw Knuckles' car. Knuckles and Blaze got out.

"It's a pizza. What are you a weakling now, oh wait, you've always been a weakling."

"Ha, ha, you're so funny. Wait until I tell Amy I saw you making-out with Blaze in your car!"

"What? We weren't doing that!"

"Amy doesn't know that!"

"Sonic!" Sonic used his super speed and ran into Amy's house. "He's such an ass hole." Knuckles muttered.

"But he's our ass-hole." Blaze replied. Knuckles couldn't help but to laugh as they walked up to Amy and Cream's house. 

* * *

"They did WHAT?"

Amy attacked Sonic out of excitement after he told her his fabrication to irritate Knuckles. "I'm telling you, Amy, I never thought Knuckles would move that fast either. They were making out in his front seat!"

"No we weren't." Knuckles said as he and Blaze walked into the house. "Sonic is just being a jerk."

Amy threw him a mean look. "What?" He shrugged.

She turned away from him to Knuckles and Blaze. "Nice to see you guys, again." She was looking at them when she noticed something about Blaze. "Blaze, how come you're not covered in dirt anymore?"

"I took a shower at Knuckles' apartment."

"Why aren't your clothes covered in dirt?"

"He did my laundry."

Amy was shocked that Blaze would shower in a guys house she had met three days ago. Blaze shared her shock. "You actually felt okay with that?"

Blaze didn't want to tell her that she hadn't been comfortable with it, Knuckles was standing right there. She hesitated and then spoke unknowingly half-heartedly "Why wouldn't I?"

"Amy, she did feel weird about it. She did just meet me but a building had almost crushed her. That tends to make people get covered in dirt." Knuckles decided help Blaze out of her no win situation. He didn't care if she felt uncomfortable about the whole situation. He had too.

"Okay!" Amy's peppiness instantly eased over what had the potential to be an awkward moment. I'll get the movie in. Cream, could you get the plates, glasses and pop from the kitchen?"

"Sure, Amy." Cream replied.

"I'll give her a hand." Tails and Cream went into the kitchen.

Sonic had put the pizza box down on the dining table that was in Amy's living room. "What did you even get on this Ames?"

"Half is everything but anchovies and pineapple, because I don't think those should be on a pizza. The rest is pepperoni."

"Nice, how are the wings?"

"Half median, half hot."

"I love you so much when you order pizza. You're amazing at it." Knuckles rolled his eyes at Sonic's comment.

Amy on the other hand, forgot that it was rude and found it sweet. "Oh, I love you too, Sonic." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Ew." Knuckles still didn't understand how Sonic could say something so stupid and Amy found it so adorable.

"Shh, Knuckles. You were making out with Blaze in your truck." Amy replied.

"What, we were not, I thought we had established that."

"Sorry, Knux, Sonic's higher on my awesome list right now." Sonic smirked and stuck his tongue out atKnuckles and he hugged Amy. Blaze sent a little fire to nick Sonic in the leg when Amy wasn't looking. Sonic yelped but didn't say anything more. Knuckles laughed. Getting back at your irritating friend for you was something people should find endearing, not a pizza comment.

Tails and Cream walked back in the room and put everything on the table. The six of them took some food and went over to the sofas. That was one of the nice things about Amy and Cream's house, it had a lot of places to sit. The room wasn't so crowded with furniture, though, that it was uncomfortable. Of course Amy sat next to Sonic and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Tails was on the other side of Sonic and Cream was next to Tails. Blaze and Knuckles had ended up sitting on a loveseat. Amy started the DVD, but had lost the remote and couldn't skip through the previews.

"Remember when Eggman went through his Star Wars phase?" Sonic asked nudging Tails' arm.

"How could I forget, Sonic? It was one of the best adventures we ever had."

"How about you Knux, remember?"

Knuckles remember, very well. "Yes, Sonic, I remember."

"I've never heard this story." Blaze hadn't been around when these events had taken place.

"Wait, you never told her that story?" Knuckles looked at Sonic with shock. "You tell everyone that story."

"Oh yeah, I never did tell her." Sonic paused for a moment and then began his story. "It was about three months after I had met Amy, when Tails and I found out that Eggman was doing something suspicious. One day we followed him out to this strange floating island in The Tornado. I had all the Chaos Emeralds with me and activated Super Sonic to get there before Tails and find a place to land. I enter the forest and suddenly this thing comes out of the ground and somehow knocks me out of my super form! The thing ended up being a certain red echidna who then stole all the Chaos Emerald's and took off."

"And that's how I met Sonic." Knuckles told Blaze and then added with sarcasm, "I've regretted it ever since."

"Shut up, Knux, I know you secretly want to be my buddy. Anyways, Eggman had convinced Knuckles I was trying to steal the Master Emerald, when actually Eggman was trying to steal it and launch his newest weapon of mass destruction, the Death Egg. I sort of laughed when I first saw it because it looked so much like the Death Star, only bigger and not so fake looking. Eggman burned Angel Island. Tails and I convinced Knuckles that I was on his side, but he still didn't like me. You know, all the normal adventure things. I ended up defeating the Death Star, but then Eggman ended up trying to rebuild the Death Star, like Darth Vator does all the time. I ended up defeating it again, but before I did Eggman approached me. I called him a mean name and then he looked at me and said 'Sonic, I am your father.'"

"Sonic, that never happened." Tails intervened.

"I know, but wouldn't it have been cool if it did? Never mind, I take that back, I don't want Eggman to be my dad."

Amy shuttered. "That's a bad mental image. Eggman doing a-"

The other five all yelled at once. "Shut up, Amy!"

Cream covered her eyes. "Oh Amy, your going to give me nightmares."

"That's really disgusting." Tails commented.

"No, that's disturbing. " Knuckles replied.

"Lovely, Amy. Now whenever I see Sonic or Eggman I'm going to picture that." Blaze added.

"I'm the spawn of a Eggman's creepiness!" Sonic yelled causing laughter

"Oh look the movie's starting!" Amy said.

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far Far Away

The music began and the crawl started.

* * *

Episode IV

A NEW HOPE

It is a period of civil war.

Rebel spaceships, striking

from a hidden base, have won

their first victory against

the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel

spies managed to steal secret

plans to the Empire's

ultimate weapon, the DEATH

STAR, an armored space

station with enough power

to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's

sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her

starship, custodian of the

stolen plans that can save her

people and restore

freedom to the galaxy...

* * *

Amy had turned out the lights and the first movie began. Throughout the movie comments were made on the dated special effects and how Han Solo reminded Sonic of Knuckles.

"There's no way I'm that much of a loser pretty boy. Besides, Amy would be Leia and you're dating her." Knuckles argued.

"Yeah, but you're defiant and want nothing to do with me."

"If I'm Han Solo, you're my fur side-kick Chewbacca."

"You wish, Knux." Sonic commented. "Cream would be C-3PO, always being helpful and manners."

"Thank you, Sonic. I guess you're right."

"Tails would have to be R2-D2." Amy said. "He's all technical. I don't know who Blaze would be…"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Yoda."

"Why would you think that?" Tails asked.

"Well, she's super mystic and powerful."

"If I remember correctly, Sonic, it was you who helped me master the Sol Emeralds." Blaze made Sonic think.

"True, but I just think you would be an awesome Yoda."

"Okay…" The action had started up in the movie again distracting them from the topic. 

* * *

They continued with the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. By then time the final battle scene was occurring in the last movie, Knuckles noticed he and Blaze were much closer together than when Leia had first been captured by Vator. He also hadn't realized that his arm was around Blaze's shoulder's much like Sonic's had been around Amy's at the beginning of the movie (however, Amy and Sonic had progressed to more of her leaning on him and more hand holding). He didn't remember doing that, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Those Ewoks remind me of Chamry." Knuckles commented.

"I was thinking the same thing." Blaze replied.

The movie continued with the sad ending where Vator sacrifices himself and becomes good. The galaxy is saved and the Ewoks have a party. Peace is restored and the movie ends.

"Those are such great movies." Sonic said as he got up and stretched. "They make me miss Eggman's Star Wars phase. Maybe next time he shows up I'll suggest to him that he tries it again."

"You're home wasn't burning down in the middle of that, Sonic."

"Hey, we fixed it, Knux. Its all good." Sonic looked at the clock. "Tails, we'd better get going, it's late."

"Wow it is. Hey Blaze, you're coming over to the workshop to use the portal tomorrow, right?"

"Yes I am."

"Okay, I'll have it ready for you. Bye Amy, Cream. I think I'll see you guys tomorrow. Later Knux!" Sonic and Tails left to go to their apartment.

Amy nudged Cream. "Why don't we go to bed?" Amy wanted to leave Blaze and Knuckles alone for a few minutes before they left each other for a while.

"Okay, good night, Knuckles and Blaze."

"Good night, Cream." Blaze replied. After Amy and Cream left it was just Knuckles and Blaze alone.

"I had a really fun time this weekend, Knuckles. It was very nice to meet you."

"Same here."

"I'm not looking forward to going home and having my parents ask a thousand questions about you."

Knuckles laughed. "Yeah, I can only imagine if I had parents. They'd be so excited that I finally went on more than one date with a girl."

"You can still text me even though I'll be in another dimension. Tails managed to work that out somehow."

"Alright, I will."

"Knuckles, I don't know how you'll feel about this. I really don't know how I feel about this but I'm curious. Do you think we should be…you know…together?"

She was right; Knuckles didn't know how he felt about this. He did like her and they did get along good but could they? "I don't know Blaze. It's not my decision, it's our decision. I had a lot of fun this weekend and think you're an awesome girl."

"I understand and feel the same."

Knuckles didn't know what he was doing but he impulsively took her hand. "Maybe then we should or at least we can try. If it doesn't work out, we can still be friends."

"Yes, I think this is right for us."

"I'm not looking forward to Amy finding out about this."

"She probably is listening in right now and already knows."

"Good point."

"I'll try to come back when I can. Right now I'm not having any serious Nega threats and I should be able to make it up soon."

"That sounds good."

"I guess this is good bye for now." This time Blaze acted impulsively and gave Knuckles a more than friendly hug.

"Looks like it, but we'll stay in touch." They released each other. "Bye, Blaze." Knuckles said as he walked out the door.

"Bye, Knuckles." Blaze watched as Knuckles pulled away from the house. The full reality of what she had just done set in on her.

'Wow, I actually did it.' She thought to herself. I did not see this weekend ending with this not I did not see a Star Wars movie marathon being the thing that made be finally able to ask a guy if we should date…I wonder what Yoda would say?

* * *

 **And there it is, Chapter 4**

 **Remind that this is not my story but I think you get the point by now, remember to like comment and give your support to the original author!**

 **Thank you for reading**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

It was Sunday, around noon when Blaze went to Tail's workshop with Amy and Cream. She did not want to leave, but she knew she had too. Hopefully Knuckles would remember to text her…and Nega wouldn't decided that now was a good time to cause trouble. If that happened, Blaze wouldn't be able to come back for a while.

"Hey Blaze, thanks for coming. It was really nice to see you." Amy said as she gave Blaze a hug.

"Thanks for inviting me and letting me stay at your house…and dressing me…" Blaze replied.

"Oh Blaze, I'm going to miss you." Cream then gave Blaze a hug.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Yeah, because your hooked on Knuckles." Sonic teased, Blaze didn't bother arguing with him. Amy, however, gave him a mean look.

"Good bye to you too, Sonic."

Tails came out from behind the portal. "It's all set up. All I have to do is flip the switch." He did so and the portal came to life. It was a swirling purple in the center of a metal ring.

"Thank you, Tails, and good bye." Blaze then stepped away from her friends and closer to it. "If you guys need me, you know where to find me. I'll be back soon. Bye."

"Bye Blaze!" Sonic, Amy, Tails and Cream yelled at different times as Blaze stepped through the portal with her bag and for a few moments was lost in the blur between dimensions. 

* * *

_April 16th, Blaze's Dimension_

Where had the time gone? Blaze thought as she walked down the corridors of her palace. She hadn't been able to see Knuckles since her visit on Valentines Day, sometimes she wondered if he even thought about her anymore. Blaze thought him, especially when she was training soldiers or fighting Eggman Nega. About three days after Blaze had come back Eggman Nega had decided that it was the perfect time to attack and kidnap her Aunt Anastasiya and her Uncle Alexander, the Duke and Lady of the Northern Province. It took Blaze a week to figure out where he had taken them, and another week to get up there. Finally on the third week, she defeated Nega and brought her aunt and uncle back to their home. Then she went home. All that time, Blaze had been unable to contact Knuckles. After that, Blaze's couldn't go see Knuckles because she had responsibilities in the royal court. Politics, the ultimate evil to a guardian trying to date someone, well except for my arch nemesis. Nega triumphs over politics on the evil scale any day.

Her parents kept trying to find time for Blaze to go back and see Knuckles. They were enthusiastic about her finally dating. She shuttered at the conversations she had had with them the day she came home. 

* * *

_Flashback- February 17th_

As soon as Blaze got home, she was directed to the garden where her parents were waiting for her. When she got there, her mother and father were seated at a small white table; lunch had apparently not been served yet. She walked out of the flowers and to her parents. Her mother was a completely white cat with the same yellow eyes as her daughter. The only part of her mother that wasn't snow colored was her hair was tipped dark purple. Blaze's father looked a lot like Blaze; exact he had no white on him and his eyes where light blue. Both of her parents had a dignified aged look.

"Oh hello Blaze, it is good to see that you are home." Her mother stood up and walked over to Blaze and led her to the table.

Blaze's father had called for a chair and wine for her. "How was you date, darling?" Her father asked.

"It went well." Blaze sipped her wine.

"Care to expand on that?"

"Depends on what you want to know."

Blaze's mother rolled her eyes. "Stop being so difficult, dear. Why don't you start with what his name was?"

"Knuckles the Echidna."

"Was he attractive?"

"I guess."

"Do not guess, answer." He father said impatiently.

"Antony, please." Blaze's mother threw her husband a sharp look. "She gets her impatience from you."

"She gets her stubbornness from you, Izabella."

"Enough." Blaze ended their small argument. "Yes, he was attractive."

"What does he look like?" Her mother asked.

"He's red, had long hair, on the tall side and muscular."

Blaze's parents looked to each other and nodded, then her father asked. "And how did he find you?"

Here came the part Blaze wasn't looking forward to. "He said he liked me."

Suddenly, Blaze's mother grabbed her daughter's wrist. "Blaze, what is this?" She asked and pointed to the purple rose ring that Blaze had over her glove.

"A ring."

Blaze's mother rolled her eyes, again. "I'm not incompetent, Blaze. The question was more directed at where did this come from?"

"He gave it too me."

"And you gave him?"

"My dagger."

"Lovely." Blaze's father said sarcastically.

"Excuse me, father?"

Blaze's mother sensed an argument stirring between them. "Did you like him, Blaze?" Blaze stirred to fidget and become very nervous and did not answer her question. "Don't do that, Blaze, it is unbecoming. How about, do you plan to see him again?"

"Yes."

"So she likes him." Blaze's mother exclaimed and clapped her hands.

"We should have that Amy knighted for service to the crown." Blaze's father held his wine glass up to his wife's. "When can we expect the wedding?"

Blaze was sipping her wine when she heard him say this. She spit what was in her mouth back into her glass. "Wait a minute! I just met this guy and I am getting married to him?"

"Well, dear, your mother and I were married within a month of meeting each other. By the way that was repulsive, we have to work on your manners."

Blaze ignored the last part." That is not the way this is going to go. You have yet to meet him!"

"Then when can we expect to meet him?" Her mother asked.

"When I'm sure he can handle you two and won't go running the other direction." 

* * *

End of Flashback

At least Blaze's parents were enjoying her dating. Her mother was constantly bragging to the ladies of the court about how her daughter had falling in love with some man in a distant land. Her father continued to turn away the lord's sons who came to see her. As always, Blaze's life was in the public eye. 

* * *

_April 16th, Sonic's Dimension_

Knuckles had been spending his time working. The weekend after Amy's party he had taken care of Sonic's apartment so he could go with Amy on a trip. Of course he had been thinking about Blaze. He knew that she was trying to come back, and she did not want him to come and see her. She said she did not feel her parents were ready just yet but Knuckles knew the really reason she did not want him coming to see her. Amy had told him that Blaze's parents were a bit hard to get along with.

Today Knuckles was at Tails' workshop doing the books again. Amy, Sonic, Cream and Tails were working the floor. For some reason, the store was not to busy at the moment. Rouge and Shadow were shopping in the store for a small appliance. Suddenly Silver came into the store.

"Hey, Silver! What's up?" Sonic asked.

"You guys want to meet my girlfriend?"

Amy practically attacked Silver. "YES! Where is she?"

"Outside."

"You left her outside? Shame on you!" Amy playfully slapped him.

Silver laughed. "I'll go get her." Silver disappeared out of the shop while everyone got up and gathered around.

Silver came back in, holding the hand of a fox. She was bright green with long blue hair and wore a flower behind her ear. "Guys, this is Flora. Flora, this is, well the gang. There's Sonic, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, Knuckles, Cream and-"

"Miles?" Flora looked surprised and went up to Tails and hugged him. "This is your shop?"

"Yeah! How have you been, Flora?"

"Good." Flora turned to Silver. "You didn't tell me you knew Tails."

"You never told me you did either."

"We're cousins."

"No way. We've been dating since October and you never told me that!"

"Woah, wait a minute!" Amy spoke up. "You have been dating her since October and you never introduced her to us? How did you even meet each other?"

"I'm a florist." Flora answered. "I opened a shop down the street from here. Silver came in to pick up an order for his friend. We started talking, one thing led to another and we ended up having dinner."

"Flora the florist?" Sonic laughed. "Ironic isn't it?"

Knuckles punched Sonic in the arm. "Stop being stupid. No one thinks you're funny." Shadow smirked at Knuckles putting Sonic in his place.

"So this is the Sonic Team?" Flora asked curiously.

"Almost, Team Chaotix isn't here and we are missing Blaze." Silver answered her.

"Wow, I honestly thought that I would never meet you guys. I just have to tell you, it is really wonderful what you do."

"Honey, we're just normal people." Rouge laughed.

"Yeah, but you guys go out there and fight some of the worst people on the planet."

"Guys, Flora doesn't fight." Silver explained, and Knuckles looked confused. "Yeah, Knux, some people don't fight." Knuckles shrugged.

Flora laughed. "That's okay, I am highly uncoordinated. Aren't you the boxer?"

Knuckles was staring at the ground. "Sort of." 

* * *

Flashback-February 20th

Knuckles was walking down the street to one of the skyscrapers. Blaze had left three days ago, but before she had, Blaze had told Knuckles she thought he should go meet the guy who could set him up as a professional boxer. He wasn't quite sure what this would bring but it was worth a shot. He walked into the large office building.

"You're name sir?" A receptionist asked.

"Knuckles the Echidna, I called Michel Aaron."

"Oh, yes, he is expecting you. He's on floor number seven, office 43."

"Thank you." Knuckles went up the elevator to floor seven and there another receptionist was waiting.

"Who are you here to see?" She asked.

"Michel Aaron."

The receptionist looked down at a notebook. "Knuckles the Echidna?"

"Yeah."

"Second office on your right." Knuckles nodded and walked to the office.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A deep voice answered. Knuckles opened the door and sitting at a large desk was a dark brown mongoose. "You're the Echidna dude?"

"Knuckles."

"Take a seat. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. My friend says your good." The Mongoose shook Knuckles hand. "He says I should check you out, maybe get you involved. How long have you been boxing?"

"Depends. I've always been fighting with my fists, but I started doing more formal boxing about two years ago."

"Fighting with your fists? What is that supposed to mean?"

Knuckles help up his fist; today he was wearing his spiked gloves. "I'm a member of the Sonic Team and I've been the guardian for my entire life. As a result I do a lot of fighting."

"Nice gloves. You seem qualified but first I need to see your boxing." The Mongoose stood up. "Come with me, we're going to see exactly what you can do." The Mongoose led Knuckles down a couple of hallways and to a large room. Knuckles instantly recognized it to be a training facility. "How comfortable do you feel about getting in the ring with one of my trainers?"

"I can handle it, but I'll need different gloves. I uses these things to punch through metal and rock and they would hurt if I hit someone hard with them."

"Sure thing. HEY STEVE! BRING SOME GLOVES OVER HERE AND FIGHT." Michel Aaron called.

A burly otter came over. "Yeah?"

"I think we might have ourselves a potential fighter. Give him some gloves and fight him."

"Okay." Steve handed Knuckles a pair of gloves. They both climbed into the ring.

Michel Aaron stood on the sidelines. "Ready? Fight!"

The two began to circle each other. Knuckles never took the first move. He liked to find out what his opponent did first. The otter swung at him, and Knuckles did a quick dodge. The otter tried a hook, but Knuckles went under his arm and punched the otter in the side of the head.

"Nice hit." The otter commented then went for Knuckles stomach. Knuckles punched a lot of people in the stomach and knew how to block the move. The otter did, however hit Knuckles arm. Knuckles rammed his fist into the otter's side and then up against his chin. The otter managed to hit Knuckles jaw right after that but not hard enough to knock him down. Knuckles, on the other hand, never left a job half done and repeated the otter's move, only he hit a lot harder. The otter went down and stayed down.

"Whoa." Michel Aaron walked into the ring. "That was impressive. Hey Steve are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Hey," Knuckles lent his hand and help the otter up. "You want me to heal that up for you?"

"What?"

"Here." Knuckles took out his piece of the Master Emerald and held to the Otter's already forming bruise. It instantly went away.

"That's even more impressive." The Mongoose laughed. "Knuckles, how do you feel about signing a contact with me? I can get you into some fights and we'll see where this goes."

"You're good, kid." The Otter remarked. "We could use a boxer like you."

Knuckles thought for a moment. "Aaron Michel, you have yourself a boxer." 

* * *

End of Flashback- April 16th

Amy had invited everyone over for dinner at her place. It would be weird for Knuckles to go over to Amy's without Blaze, he hadn't been there since she left. He hadn't told Blaze about the boxing thing yet; he had only fought in four fights he had started. Knuckles had won them all. The problem now was that Knuckles needed to cut back on his other work hours. Instead of teaching tons of classes Knuckles was only teaching a beginner and advanced Martial Arts and beginner and advanced Boxing. He had been force to drop most of his clients that weren't celebrities, but Knuckles was still working a lot. Not to mention that Knuckles had to take three days off and have a match rescheduled to go after Eggman in March. Life was busy. 

* * *

Amy was in the kitchen with Cream, Rouge, and Flora. The girls had instantly taken to Flora and she was part of the gang.

"I'm sorry, I'm not the best cook."

"Don't feel bad, no one is as good of a cook as those two." Rouge assured Flora causing her to laugh.

"So what's Blaze like?" Flora was curious.

"You know that Knuckles guy?" Rouge asked as she tossed a salad.

"Yeah."

"A lot like him, except not as mean to Sonic." Everyone in the kitchen laughed.

"Why isn't she here?"

"Blaze is a princess from another dimension." Cream responded. "And she is a guardian, like Knuckles. She has a lot of demanding responsibilities at home."

"I'm shocked she hasn't come up recently. I thought she would come up more and see Knuckles." Amy was starting to doubt that Blaze and Knuckles were still seeing each other.

"Are they dating?" Flora asked.

Rouge and Amy looked at each other and smirked. They said simultaneously, "Yeah."

"What's the big deal about him dating someone?"

Rouge and Amy started laughing, even Cream was giggling. Amy finally spoke, "Didn't you notice how he didn't look you in the eyes? Knuckles is really shy around girls who aren't us."

"He was shy around us for a while, too." Rouge added.

"Oh, I get it. Is Blaze really outgoing then?" Flora asked and received even more laughs.

Rouge was the first to speak this time. "Blaze is just as bad as Knux. Those two are shy, but somehow they get over it when around each other."

"I'd like to meet Blaze." Flora had an idea. She wanted to get to know all of Silver's friends better, except for Tails. She had grown up with him. "What are you guys doing for Spring Break?"

Everyone in the kitchen shook their heads. "Nothing." Amy answered.

"How would you guys like to come out to my family's beach villa down in the Chana Islands?"

Cream, Rouge and Amy all exclaimed loudly, "Your family has a villa on the Chana Islands!" The Chana Islands were series oh small islands in the warm seas. It was one of the most beautiful places in the world and also one of the most fun. There was shopping and restaurants, sailing, all sorts of sports, a rain forest, and beautiful white sand beaches.

"Um…yeah. Has Silver told you guys anything about me? The side of my family that Tails isn't related too has owed property on the islands for centuries."

"If it isn't too much trouble," Cream sweet said.

"Its no trouble. You guys can come down maybe the twenty-second through the thirty-first, and do you think your friend Blaze would come?"

Amy pulled out her cell phone. "We can find out." Amy dialed Blaze's number.

"Hello, Amy. How was your trip to Chirssing Lake with Sonic?" Blaze asked Amy over the phone.

"God, that's right I haven't talked to you in forever. It was awesome, but we can talk more about that later. What are you doing the twenty-second through the thirty-first?"

"I probably have soldiers to train, meetings to attend and law-making courts to be at. Why?"

"Put your parents on the phone."

"No, Amy!"

"Um, last time I talked to your parents you ended up being forced to come to my party, you met Knuckles. So just put them on the phone."

"No Amy, I am not putting my parents on the phone-What are you doing! Give that back at once!" Amy heard a bit of a scuffle going on.

"Again, darling, don't be so demanding. It is unbecoming." Another female voice said. "Hello Amy, dear. This is Queen Izabella. Hold on for a moment while I put you on speaker phone." Amy heard some more arguing in the background. "There you go, dear. You remember my husband, King Antony."

"Hello, Amy." A male voice greeted.

"Hello, Mr. Antony And Ms. Izabella. I was just calling to tell you a new friend of mine wants to meet Blaze. She was wondering if Blaze would like to come with the rest of us to her families villa on a tropical island. I know Blaze would say, no I'm too busy, but you guys would tell me the truth."

"I think I could arrange for that, Amy." The king did not even consult his daughter. "I think it is a rather splendid idea."

"Why don't we send Blaze up a couple of days early? Then all the girls could go buy some new clothes for the trip together." The Queen suggested.

"That sounds like torture." Amy heard Blaze say and laughed.

"It might be torture for you Blaze, but it will be fun for the rest of us."

"We will send her then. Thank you, Amy, for informing us of this opportunity." The queen knew that her daughter would have never agreed.

"Yes," the king added, "I am considering having you knighted for forcing my daughter to have fun and find a potential boyfriend."

Amy laughed. "Well I wouldn't mind. Thank you for letting us have her, take care!"

The king and queen laughed. "You too, Amy."

Amy hung up the phone. "Blaze is coming."

"You used her parents didn't you?" Rouge laughed.

"Yup. Oh and she's coming early. Her parents are sending her up with some money for us all to take a shopping spree before we leave and probably when we get there too."

"Whoa, who are her parents?" Flora asked.

"They're the king and queen. They want Blaze not to be so uptight and tomboyish."

"So they're giving us money to take her on a shopping spree?"

"Blaze hates shopping for clothing. If we go with her, she gets clothes that aren't for fighting."

"Now, we just need to tell the boys." Flora commented.

Cream noticed that someone was missing. "Speaking of boys, where's Knuckles?"

"He said he'd be here late." Amy had finished preparing the dinner. "He should be here by the time we serve."

"We should go tell our boys they're going on a vacation." Rouge said as they girls walked out the kitchen. 

* * *

"Damn, Espio is even losing the bet!" Sonic was sitting on the couch with Silver, Tails and Shadow. "Looks like you're winning, Tails."

"I knew I would eventually."

"I never expected them to actually decide to legitimately date." Shadow commented.

"I don't think any of us did. Looks like Knux is getting soft." Sonic laughed.

"I'd say being around her makes him more protective. You remember when he beat that guy up at the club for hitting on her."

"Shadow's got a point, Sonic."

They wouldn't continue they're conversation because the girls walked into the room. "Hey girls!" Sonic called as they walked into the room. "How's dinner going?"

Amy sat next to him and kissed him on the check. "Good, sweetheart."

Flora was sitting next to Silver. "You've got awesome friends, Silver. They are all so welcoming."

"Yeah, they are."

"The girls and I decided that we're all going to my family's villa in the Chana Islands. We invited the girl who isn't here, Blaze. We were hopeful all the guys would come too."

"Well I'm in." Silver said.

"Sounds fun." Shadow agreed.

Sonic shook his head. "Not just fun, awesome!"

"I don't know." Tails hesitated. "I have the shop to take care of."

"Oh cousin, I can have one of the employs from my florist shop take care of it for a week." Flora suggested.

"I guess so…"

"Good it's set then. Silver you can invite your friends, Team Chickix?"

Silver laughed. "Team Chaotix. Did you invite Knux yet?"

"No, I will when he comes."

"Let me, Flora." Amy offered. "I know how to get him to come."

"Alright, Amy, whatever…"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Well, speak of the devil. He comes Rad Red, now." Amy got up and opened the door. Knuckles was standing on the other side, wearing his usual serious expression. "Hiya, Knux. Glad you could make it."

"Thanks, Amy."

"Hey, dinner is almost ready. Can I ask for your help with something in the kitchen?"

"Sure." Knuckles agreed. Sonic was snickering in the background. "What's so funny, hedgehog?"

"You, helping in the kitchen. Real masculine, Knuxie."

"Real mature, Sonic. Don't you have something better to do?"

"Don't you?"

"Oh shh, Sonic." Amy intervened. "Or I'll tell them all about your pink lacey underwear." By now Knuckles was laughing, in fact everyone was laughing (Flora was even laughing so hard, she was snorting).

"WHAT! I don't where pink underwear!"

"They don't know that, and you forgot to say you didn't where lacey underwear." Amy grabbed Knuckles' arm and pulled him into the kitchen.

"What do you need my help with?" He asked.

"Well, I more needed to talk to you."

"Great." Knuckles said sarcastically. "Now I really feel masculine."

"Shut up." She handed him a whole bunch of things to carry. "Flora invited all of us to her family's villa in the Chana Islands and she wanted me to tell you."

Knuckles was wondering why Flora would have Amy tell him and why Flora would even invite him at all. He didn't want to go, regardless. It was probably just something Amy was going to use to set him up with girls. He turned to carry the stuff Amy had given him to the dinning room. "Amy, you can tell her I'm not interested."

Amy figured he would say this, but she had a trick up her sleeve. "Blaze well be there."

Knuckles turned back around and walked up to Amy. "What do you mean?"

"I think it's obvious what I mean. Blaze is coming with us. I know you two haven't seen each other in months, so I thought this might be a good time for you two to meet back up. Are you guys still together?"

"Of course we are!" Knuckles said that but didn't know the real answer to the question. He assumed they were.

"So you're going then!"

"I never said-"

"Blaze."

"Fine! I'll be there!"

"Great! I knew you would come. Thanks Knux!" Amy went back into the living room and mouthed to Flora, 'Mission Complete' 

* * *

Dinner at Amy's was good, actually it was great because Amy and Cream were awesome cooks. Knuckles was still a little nervous around Flora, which she found amusing. Flora was adamant on making Knuckles not be nervous around her and the better they got to know each other, the more Knuckles liked her. Flora didn't fight but she was a bluntly honest person. Knuckles liked that. Flora knew that the two of them could be good friends, if she got him to stop the nerves.

When Knuckles went home he sent Blaze a text. He was very excited to see her again. They had not even text each other in a while. It wasn't an elaborate text.

It read

'I look forward to seeing you. Good night'

The only way Knuckles could be happier is if he saw the face of the one who received the message. 

* * *

**And here we are, I want to express my most sincere apology for the delay of this, I have been having trouble with my PC since forever and well, to be honest, I completely forgot this story was here since I don't write it.**

 **Now that I'm back a bit I can finally start updating again, sorry for the delay... again.**

 **Remember to follow, fav and give reviews to this awesome work of writing**

* * *

 **Yelta's original Author Note:**

 _ **Disclaimer- Other than Flora and a couple of minor characters, I don't own any of the characters.**_

 _ **Help me out a bit. I need to know if you think Flora is a Mary-Sue, I tried to mention faults.**_

 _ **Clearly the Northern Province is supposed to be like Russia and Blaze's mother, aunt and uncle are supposed to be Russian.**_

 _ **Be awesome, leave a review, thanks for reading.**_


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